The London 2012 Olympic Park

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to visit the Olympic Park for the first time. Given that almost everyone coming across this post from the UK probably knows everything that they need to know about it, I thought I would just set out my personal likes and dislikes, and let you know about some of the things that I have discovered concerning the park’s future:

What I Liked About The Olympic Park

I was very impressed by the gardens and ‘wilderness’ areas that have been established along the courses of the river and canals – the wildflower meadows were absolutely beautiful, and a lovely contrast to the quite stark areas in the immediate vicinity of the venues. I also enjoyed visiting the Great British Garden too, which has a long arbour where people have been pinning messages about their hopes for the Games and beyond. Some of the plantings, particularly towards the Greenway Gate, are designed to mimic the footprint of the industrial buildings that used to stand on the site.
The new pieces of public art were very interesting, particularly Monica Bonvinci’s mirrored ‘RUN’, which is much bigger in the flesh than it appears in pictures – each letter stands about 20 or so feet high. I thought that the colourful ‘Steles’ that sit in the water along one stretch of the canal were great fun too – these ‘crayons’ will be used after the Games as moorings along this stretch of the canal. Particularly inspired was the water and light installation underneath one of the bridges – water droplets spell out words as they fall…
I was surprised to find that a lot of thought had gone into the design of some of the buildings that house the sponsor exhibits. The BMW building with its cascading waterfalls, and the Coke ‘Beat Box’, were marvellous. It’s a shame that they’ll be dismantled after the Games – I’m sure that those buildings could serve a useful purpose elsewhere in the area…
The impromptu musical interludes were a real treat. In addition to the ‘bandstand’ area which has a sea shell-like stage, I came across four different music performances while I was at the park – a brass/pop ensemble, a soloist with his guitar, an a cappella vocal quartet and a group of drummers and percussionists leading a kids’ conga!
I really have to praise the staff too – without exception the Games Makers were really friendly and helpful. I’m not sure I could maintain a smile when I’m asked the same question twenty times in a row, but they seemed to manage it. Even the police were pleasant – in particular the mounted officers who were stationed in pairs around the park. I doubt that they anticipated that each horse would become a miniature petting zoo – every that one I saw had a crowd of awestruck children three or four deep thronging around it. City kids don’t get to see horses very often you see…

What I Disliked About The Olympic Park

The prices! £4 for a chicken salad sandwich is a bit rich. I know they have to make their money somehow but a visit to the Olympic Park is already an expensive day out for the family – personally I waited until after I’d left the Olympic Park to eat…
The constant presence of piped music was a little annoying at times – particularly because you could still hear it in those places where some peace and quiet would have been preferable. The choice of tracks was strange too – ‘How Soon Is Now’ by The Smiths isn’t the kind of thing that you would associate with a bright sunny day in the Olympic Park!

The Future Of The Olympic Park

Now you may know that the Park itself is going to be closed after the Paralympic Games for a period of twelve months, with certain areas not re-opening to the public for eighteen months – you can see the plans online here. You’ll note that the post-Games Olympic Park is a lot greener than it is at present, as many areas that are currently paved will be transformed into parkland over the next year or so. I share in the frustration of others that the timescale is so long, but they will be dismantling some of the venues which will pose health and safety issues for people in close proximity, and the new landscaping will need time to bed in. The one bright note comes from a recent interview with the Independent by Daniel Moylan, chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation. He mentions that they are trying to work out a way in which the Orbit could still be accessible to visitors by bus post-Games. Given that there were several hundred thousand people in the Olympic Park at any one time during the Olympic and Paralympic Games I can’t imagine that more than a small fraction of visitors had the opportunity to take the trip up to the top of the tower – I’ll certainly be getting my name down on the list if that rumour turns out to be true…

Here’s a small selection of the images from my visit earlier this week – check this link to Google Plus for more.