The Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. (Photo: Alberto / Flickr)
Historically, the high from the Olympic Games is ephemeral and does not always translate to real estate growth in the host cities. Sales for Pure Island, the 3,600-unit complex of luxury apartment blocks in Rio de Janeiro where athletes of this year’s Games are billeted, have been middling at best.
From Athens to Atlanta, the Olympics have a habit of siring white elephants. Many structures built for the Games have sat vacant, become derelict, or get reclaimed by nature. One stadium in Greece is even used to house Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
Be that as it may, the Olympics have left a legacy of architectural feats in Asia that would shame Mount Olympus itself. Asia has hosted five Olympic Games so far, and Tokyo is preparing to expend US$3.5 billion when it hosts the Summer Olympics in four years’ time.
Here are some structures that continue to inspire awe even after the torch was snuffed out.
Beijing National Stadium, 2008 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: momo / Flickr)
Beijing National Stadium
This structure graced front pages worldwide due to its space-age persuasions. Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron with the help of Chinese architect Li Xinggang and artist Ai Weiwei, the stadium is famed for its façade of latticed steel, hence the nickname Bird’s Nest.
Beijing National Aquatics Centre, 2008 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: Andrey Belenko / Flickr)
Beijing National Aquatics Centre
Michael Phelps bagged a record number of gold medals in this venue, but the structure itself is famous in its own right. Designed by PTW Architects, the structure, nicknamed the Water Cube, stuns especially at night when its façade lights up into dozens of radiant bubbles made of a plastic polymer called ETFE.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium, 1964 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: kanegen / Flickr)
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
The very first Olympics in Asia opened in 1964 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. With a curvaceous suspension roof designed by architect Kenzo Tange, the building has become an icon of the Japanese capital.
The Budokan, 1964 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: Dick Thomas Johnson / Flickr)
The Nippon Budokan
The Budokan in Tokyo, site of the martial arts contests in the 1964 Olympics, is as much famous for its ties to the Games as to music. It hosted the Beatles’ first-ever Japanese show, and rock’s biggest luminaries have since coveted a performance here.
Seoul Olympic Stadium, 1988 Summer Olympic Games. (Photo: Chelsea Marie Hicks / Wikimedia Commons)
Jamsil Olympic Stadium
Seoul, hosting the 1988 Summer Olympics, constructed this masterwork. The undulating profile is designed to evoke a porcelain vase from Korea’s Joseon Dynasty.
This story was originally published on property-report.com and is reproduced as part of an editorial partnership between PropertyGuru.com and Property Report.
