Rio's Stunning Olympic Park Revealed

Rio's Stunning Olympic Park Revealed

This is how you turn a former Formula 1 track into one of the most striking Olympic parks ever.

Los Angeles-based AECOM released fresh renderings of its Rio 2016 plan, designs that turn 300 acres of a lagoon-side peninsula in the Barra de Tijuca district into a 15-venue Olympic park in time for Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Summer Olympics.

Not only will AECOM draw on unique views afforded from an in-city peninsula, it will also work Brazilian color and themes from the surrounding Atlantic Forest into the site. The venue will feature seven new stadiums—some venues already exist from the 2007 Pan-American Games—around a main axis that snakes through the Olympic Park.

By employing subtle hills and curved paths, visitors will meander through the park before reaching the southern tip of the peninsula, where they can stop and watch Olympic events on giant video screens, while reclining on a waterfront lawn with 12,000 of their closest friends.

The spectacularity of this park should only make it more amazing when Tokyo tops it in 2020.

Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and technology for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.