Rio de Janeiro’s city council and the Brazilian Institute of Architects (Rio chapter) are set to launch yet another major international architecture competition for 2016 Olympic facilities, the latest covering the ´General Project of the Olympic Park´, which will be located on a one million square metre former motorsport facility in the Barra de Tijuca region, in the south of the city.
The competition will have two phases: evaluation of the portfolio and heads of agreement for the project of each architectural team, following which eight groups will be selected, and then the actual competition and selection of the best design. The winner will be contracted to prepare the executive project, covering roads, access points, infrastructure requirements, and coordination of the development of all sporting facilities.
The Institute revealed that the period for the submission and selection of the eight pre-qualified teams will run from January 15 to March 21, with the winning design to be determined by the end of June.
The Olympic Park will house the majority of the facilities to be used in 2016, including the Maria Lenk aquatic park and the main indoor facility called ´Rio Arena´, as well as the broadcast centre and the accredited media centre.
The concept for the park has four aspects: to fully leverage the value of the site while also ensuring the construction of high standard facilities in line with the quality levels of the overall Olympics plan, to incorporate planning for the legacy, to address accessibility requirements, and to attend the requirements of the International Olympic Committee.
The park´s construction will be financed by the sale of additional land from the autodrome, which will be available for commercial and residential developments.