#books #architecture #photography | Olympic Realities : Sechs Städte nach dem Grossanlass = Six cities after the games

Olympic Realities : Sechs Städte nach dem Grossanlass = Six cities after the games / Bruno Hebling (Hrsg.).
Birkhäuser, Basel [etc.] : 2015.
208 p. : il.
Ed. bilingüe en alemán e inglés 
ISBN 9783035606317
Edificios ruinosos.
Fotografíade arquitectura.
Instalaciones deportivas.
Juegos olímpicos.
Sbc Aprendziaje A-725.85 OLY
http://millennium.ehu.es/record=b1824941~S1*spi

Olympic sports facilities are places that get a great amount of attention for a short period of time. Moreover, media attention has rapidly increased in recent years, which reinforces the effect of temporary use even more. But what happens to the elaborately planned and expensive sports venues in the aftermath of the games?

Photographer Bruno Helbling followed the fate of six venues with his camera: Athens (1896, 2004), Berlin (1936), Sarajevo (1998), Torino (2006), Beijing (2008), and Sochi (2014). His images are neither judgmental nor disavowing: He offers the viewer an objective yet aesthetically captivating look at what now awaits visitors to the respective sites. The variety of possible subsequent uses shown here – whether planned or unplanned – is both insightful and educational. At the same time, it demonstrates the effectiveness of architecture in an environment that is beyond the reaches of planning control. A book that is both poetic and inspiring.

World records, heroic stories, tears of the losers. The Olympics are the most important international sporting event when, for two weeks, one city is watched by the world. Universal enthusiasm and a global media presence politicise the games and provide an opportunity for massive investment. Stadiums become symbols of power. Days of euphoria are followed by disillusionment. Olympic Realities takes the viewer to six places deserted by the Olympic circus. Bruno Helbling’s architecture photography raises questions of the significance of these monstrous events. The impressive pictures are accompanied by six controversial essays, each written by an author with a special connection to the particular Olympic city. Simultaneously provocative and entertaining, they expose the roots of a system of megalomania, corruption and mismanagement. Olympic Realities is not only a highly aesthetic record of endurance, but also a sharp portrayal of an inescapable recurrence.