Ready to Assemble (RTA) meets Ikea Mondo. Stadium beta v. 0.9a
The Guardian is reporting that the 2012 London Olympic organizers are in talks with the City of Chicago to re-use the Stadium from the upcoming 2012 London Olympics for the 2016 games here in our beloved city. [See computer rendering of stadium above.]
Since the games in 2016 haven't been awarded to the host city as yet, these are just preliminary talks. The design has received some criticism for its lack luster aesthetics, but people seem intrigued by the idea of recycling a building-- especially one as large as a 60-80K seat stadium.
Apparently the idea is to design key components of the stadium so that they can be readily disassembled, shipped, then reassembled in the new location.
Usually prototypes cost MORE to build the first few units (because the design costs and engineering are all front-loaded). Add to that the cost of labor to disassemble, pack and ship across the ocean. It's nice to know Chicago will be inheriting someone else's bugs -- beta version 0.9a. Beta / version 1 items are always buggy.
Plus, if anyone has tried to assemble any flat-pack/ RTA item (like those from Ikea), you know you always have a part or two missing. And let's hope there's no particle board involved, because you know once the threads are stripped, good luck getting the parts to hold tightly together... [ just kidding.]
Just the same, watching this kind of Stadium go up in Washington Park might be quite entertaining.
I would imagine London will ask Chicago to "share" some of the upfront costs. I doubt it will actually be cheaper to recycle this stadium. Nonetheless, Chicago will garner more "Green Cache" for even attempting it. Afterall, Chicago is America's "Greenest City".
Speaking of GREEN... The Chicago Museum of Science & Industry is currently featuring a Green Pre-Fab Smart Home. They've actually assembled a full-size modular home on the grounds of the Museum. So visitors can walk-thru and around the house. The exhibit is open until early January 2009. The MSIChicago.org website has additional info on the exhibit.
Read more about the "Flat Pack Stadium" at the Guardian website.
