The Olympic Park will be the heart of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Rio 2016. With an area of 1,180,000 square meters, it will host 15 Olympic sports competitions and 11 Paralympic contests.
The winning Master Plan takes into account both the "Olympic Games Mode," the functionality of the Olympic Park during the Games, as well as the park's "Legacy Mode," its sustainability after the 2016 events.
"The Olympic Games are a unique opportunity for the city and that's what motivates us. This contest puts into debate the construction of facilities that are essential for the competition, but it also gave us the opportunity to think about an important legacy for the city. I am very happy to join a team that has a common agenda: its love for Rio and the pursuit of the transformation of the city," said Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, who took office as President of the Municipal Olympic Company on August 5th.
The winning design for the Olympic Port by João Pedro Backheuser in collaboration with Catalan architect Ignasi Riera aims at the revitalization and redevelopment of Rio de Janeiro's port. The 850,000 square meter project includes the construction of facilities such referee and media accommodations, a five-star hotel, a convention center and business center.
"We seek to create a new articulation of the public space, and give back to the city private spaces such as the convention center, which will be underground and whose rooftop will be a public terrace with gardens and lots of green, and will give access to the five buildings of the business center," said João Pedro Backheuser. "The city should never be treated as a museum. The goal is to bring life back. More than a plan of construction works, the proposed redevelopment should be understood as a process of political reconstruction of the city", the architect concluded.