In a surprise upset over Paris, London has been awarded the 2012 Summer Olympic Games - now we know the city to which Vancouver will be passing the Olympic torch at the end of the 2010 Winter Games. (London's aquatic centre is pictured below).
Which brings us to the building where our closing ceremonies will be held, BC Place Stadium. Sadly, our little mushroom isn't exactly the picture of modernity.
(As mentioned previously, the proposed 'ring of Olympic fire' that will surround the stadium doesn't help matters either - "The Vancouver Games. We'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge").
On the one hand, there's no question that we could do a lot better. The Olympic Stadium at Athens was an architectural wonder (pictured below), and the design plans for the new Wembley Stadium in London are spectacular as well (link here).
However, it's also fair to say that we'd be smart not to throw our money away on an $800 million stadium that will have two weeks of glory, and then become the home of the BC Lions. In adding up its Olympic bills, Athens is presently at $13 billion (USD) and climbing.
Maybe it's best to accept the fact that our Olympic Stadium is going to wind up looking a little shabby on the world stage, and instead do all we can to prevent it from becoming cheesy (ie - kill the ring of fire).
As a writer from Slate observed last year, in reference to the Athens Games, "...each Olympics has an architectural icon, a building NBC loves to show as it cuts to commercial." Fortunately, by 2010 Vancouver should have some other architectural gems that will hopefully lure the cameras away from BC Place Stadium.
Athens Starts a High-End Trend in Stadium Architecture [Slate]
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