White Elephant
A white elephant is a possession
which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of
maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. -wikipedia
Tiller’s notion of scarcity
thinking reminded me of the stadiums built specifically for the Brazil World
Cup. Tiller articulates the concept of reusing what already exists as a
creative tool for designing with the consideration of the realities of the
world. The vision of the Brazil World Cup was the complete opposite, essentially
breeding white elephants throughout the land. Brazil wanted to showcase the
World their advancement in society, culture, soccer, etc. To achieve this, the
government had to update their infrastructure and build new stadiums to show
off. In the end, the world cup was a success from an entertainment point of
view but had negative affects on local communities, distrust in the government
from citizens, and unused buildings years later.
The question that comes to mind
is, how can those stadiums be reused today? What kinds of programs would
prosper? Or would it be better to demolish them and reuse the materials and
site?
You bring up a good point. As Architect's, I think it is important for us to think about the future life of our designs before they are built so that they are more likely to have lasting, positive impacts on communities.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as though a lot of olympic stadiums have lost all value as soon as the olympics being held there ended (a few exemptions of this obviously). It makes me think that maybe if architects and builders of these stadiums assume this mentality of using existing materials and what not, it would alter this on-going trend of failed and un-used spaces. I believe that Los Angeles has this mindset for the upcoming Olympics they are hosting in the 2020's.
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