Mecanoo participated in an international competition, organised by the Olympic Committee and Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, to design the Olympic Park for Rio 2016. The Olympic and Paralympic Park provides a great opportunity in rethinking the current model of development in Barra da Tijuca, which enables real estate logics to prevail over the quality of public space.
It’s important to change the current paradigm to a new one focused on the cities sustainable development. The site was subdivided into programmatic bands in the direction North-South, separated from each other by streets for cars and pedestrians.
This structure will determine the public character of the Olympic and Paralympic Park making it a vital part of the city, with lively public spaces and mixed-uses instead of a compartmentalised, mono-functional area.
The urban plan also included the transition from ‘Olympic Games Mode’ to ‘Legacy Mode’. After the Games the sports venues and new developments formed a new reference for the city in terms of urban planning and sustainability.
Mecanoo’s Urban Master plan would free up at least sixty per cent of the Olympic Park area for future developments.
Conservation, universal accessibility and integration with future municipal projects will ensure that the new infrastructure will positively benefit the people of Rio for generations to come.