Olympic architecture

Fisht Olympic Stadium in the Sochi Olympic Park. Photo courtesy of Populous.

I hope that Architect Jerry Anderson and POPULOUS will get the credit due to them through the Media's content during this 2014 Winter Olympics season. Not only is this Olympic complex the most expensive in the history of the Games at $50 billion, but it is perhaps the most gorgeous as well. The buildings and details are endlessly perfect in proportion and scale. I would rather get a tour of the buildings even than to see the events.

In 2010, I was able to attend the Vancouver Olympics and to do many interviews, write articles, and even be taped for some live interviews about the architecture of the Olympics and Vancouver itself as well. I was overwhelmed when stepping foot physically within Vancouver to see that only perhaps 10% of the architecture of the Olympics had been made visible to the public through the Media up until that point. The architecture there, too, was absolutely stunning.



Universally, architects have a rather difficult time getting credit for their work in the Media. Even Blair Kamin, the Architectural Critic for the Chicago Tribune agrees with my observations as we recently discussed this issue via email within the last month. It is as if the Media believes it was the client who did the design? Or the community members or other social leaders who did the design? They are most likely interviewed and included in the articles. Please let this gross oversight and error cease. Please give your content greater depth by investigating the people who are behind these great building designs.

How coverage of an event such as the Olympics can evade proper highlights on the buildings that stage these fantastic events stumps me. Kuddos to the Union of Russian Architects for their impeccable taste in selecting POPULOUS for the design of the complex. These buildings are stunning in any glimpse of the live and still cameras during these events.