The 50 Best Buildings In Olympic History

From 1912 to 1952, architectural medals were awarded in the Olympic Games. Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, viewed art competitions as a critical part of the full mind and body education that the Games promoted. While the official celebration of the arts ended some six decades ago, art and architecture remain a central component of the Olympic experience.

We all remember the pageantry of the opening and closing ceremonies, which serve to highlight the cultural achievements of the host nations. We also remember the host venues of these magnificent events. Often purpose built, sometimes simply refurbished, the Olympic Stadium is one of the Games' biggest stars.

Other venues capture attention too. Pools meld groundbreaking architecture and unprecedented athletic performance. Velodromes become bastions of technical ingenuity. And, ice rinks link civic pride to speed and the thrill of one on one competition.

There is no doubting the role of architecture in the Olympics. With that in mind, we look back at Olympic history from 1896 to 2012 to select the buildings that changed the nature of architecture and witnessed the greatest feats in sports history.

The 50 Best Buildings In Olympic History

City: Athens, Greece

Year of Games: 1896

Architect: Lycurgus

This stadium is old school--and that's not even considering the fact that it's in the mother country of the Olympics. Here's a stadium that has marble seats and is arranged in an elongated u-shape like the Circus Maximus and the Stadium of Domitian in Rome. The only thing you need to be more authentic when watching the Olympics here is a drinking vessel of wine and a draped garment.

City: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Year of Games: 1928

Architect: Jan Wils

Fun fact, Jan Wils' Olympic Stadium is the only Olympic venue to claim Olympic gold. Say that 10 times fast. Or, just marvel in the history of the Olympics... which from from 1912 to 1952 awarded medals in various arts including architecture, literature, painting, and music.

City: Helsinki, Finland

Year of Games: 1952

Architect: Hilding Ekelund

Hilding Ekeleund designed both the Velodrome and the Olympic Village in Helsinki. Both were completed for the 1940 Games, which were abandoned, and then employed in 1952. Like contemporary Alvar Aalto, Ekeleund was a champion of "Functionalism" and noted for his incorporation of open space and parks in city planning.

City: Sydney, Australia

Year of Games: 2000

Architect: Abigroup Ltd & Obayashi Corporation

Ranked among the 10 best arenas in the world, the Sydney Super Dome was built with environmental factors in mind. While a minor air-conditioning set-back make green claims tough, the idea and the final articulation of the building helped usher in a new era of large indoor athletic venues.

City: Seoul, Korea

Year of Games: 1988

Architect: Kim Swoo Geun

Jamsil Olympic Stadium's line imitate the curves of Korean Joeseon Dynasty porcelain vases. It opened in 1984, hosting the Asian Games in 1986, before serving as centerpiece of Seoul's Olympic summer.

City: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Year of Games: 1988

Architect: Unknown

Canada Olympic Park (COP), host of ski jumping, bobsled, and luge, is one of the lasting legacies of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Ski jumping, nordic combined, and freestyle skiing also took place at the venue.

City: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Year: 1956

Architect: Unknown

Noted for appearing in the Bond film For Your Eyes Only, this structure is also one of the greatest ski jumping venue in Olympic history.

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 2012

Architect: Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Completed a full year before the Games, the London Olympic Basketball arena is a groundbreaking recyclable venue. It is built of a steel frame which was then wrapped in white. With 12,000 seats, it is the largest temporary structure ever built for the Olympics.

City: Mexico City, Mexico

Year of Games: 1968

Architect: Unknown

The most noted structure in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City is the Palacio de los Deportes. With a dome consisting of hyperbolic paraboloids of tubular aluminum and waterproof copper-sheilded plywood, it has quite the look. The building was designed by architects Felix Candela, A. Peyri, and E. Castandeda.

Other buildings in the park include the Agustín Melgar Olympic Velodrome and Fernando Montes de Oca Fencing Hall.

City: Oslo, Norway

Year of Games: 1952

Architect: Rinnan & Tveten

The first purpose built arena for ice hockey in Norway, the Jordal Amfi is legendary for good reason. It opened as an outdoor arena, adding a roof in 1971, thanks to money left by famed figure skater Sonja Henie.

City: Tokyo, Japan

Year: 1964

Architect: Mamoru Yamada

Famous for supporting modern architecture in Japan, Mamoru Yamada is important for pushing Expressionism and changing the way building was conceived in the country. His Nippon Budokan was built to the judo competition for the 1964, but lives on as one of the Tokyo's most revered music venues.

City: Tokyo, Japan

Year of Games: 1964

Architect: Ashihara Yoshinobu

Host to 3,875 specters and wrestling events, the Komazawa Gymnasium is an undoubtedly cool structure. Architect Ashihara Yoshinobu is noted for the spatial continuity between exterior and inter space in his buildings. This is particularly evident in the Gymnasium, which won a special award from the Architectural Institute of Japan.

City: Beijing, China

Year of Games: 2008

Architect: Schuermann Architects

A technological masterpiece, the Laoshan Velodrome is built with a lattice-framed steel structure. The roof is the central structural and decorative element. With looks akin to an open umbrella, its an eye catching space with a unique stake on Beijing's landscape.

City: Vancouver, Canada

Year of Games: 2010

Architect: Kasian Architecture

This LEED Silver certified arena hosted ice hockey games during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The building is named after Doug Mitchell, a man instrumental in building Canada's national hockey program.

City: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Year of Games: 1956

Architect: Unknown

Built for Olympic ice hockey, this arena is most famous of its appearance in For Your Eyes Only. James Bond (played by Roger Moore) meets villain Kristatos and narrowly avoids being tricked. In 1956 both the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the arena, which at the time was without a roof.

City: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Year: 1988

Architect: Graham - McCourt

The first indoor speed skating venue in Olympic history and the first covered speed skating venue built in North America. Needless to say, the Olympic Oval revolutionized speed skating.

City: Squaw Valley, California, United States

Year of Games: 1960

Architect: Unknown

The now destructed Blyth Arena once had a wall of glass, which opened the building up to sweeping views of the mountains. After the roof of the arena was insulated during a push to improve the building's efficiency, the roof collapsed under the weight of accumulating snow. When originally built, the roof was not to be insulated and the natural heat of the equipment working in the arena would melt the snow on the roof. The insulation, although well-intended, ended up becoming the building's demise.

City: Lillehammer, Norway

Year of Games: 1994

Architect: Moe–Levorsen

A hockey rink located in a mountain! 141,000 cubic meters of rock were removed to create the cavern. While the expenses were high, upkeep is low. (Think about this, no window washing costs). All that is cool, but what makes this one of the Best Buildings In Olympic History is that it is the world's latest underground cavern built for public use.

City: Turin, Italy

Year of Games: 2006

Architect: Arata Isozaki, Pier Paolo Maggiora

Composed of glass "window slots" the Palasport Olimpico is all about an engagement with natural light even with stainless steel as primary material. However, the facade did require minor change for the Olympic events, with the winders covered to provide for professional ice-hockey conditions.

City: Turin, Italy

Year of Games: 2006

Architect: Populous, Studio Zoppini Associati of Milan and Buro Happold.

The Oval Lingotto's technical architecture, designed to promote a speedy environment in which the skaters could compete, won a prestigious IOC/IAKS Award (given to the best sports facility) in 2007. The interior beams bend and curve in a fashion that mimics the movements of the speed skaters.

City: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Year of Games: 2002

Architect: Gilles Stransky Brems Smith

Built specifically for the 2002 Winter Olympics, the Utah Olympic Oval is one of the world's fastest indoor rinks. Part of that distinction is due to high altitude, the rest because of a dizzying amount of record setting performances at the venue. The large Games logo on the roofline made the Oval a memorable spot for television viewers as well.

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 1908

Architect: J.J. Webster

White City Stadium is considered the precursor to the modern seater stadium. For the 1908 Olympics the venue hosted a dizzying amount of events, including cycling and swimming. Most famously, White City Stadium hosted the finish of the first ever modern marathon. Demolished in 1985, the stadium lives on in sporting history through both architectural innovations and sporting glories.

City: Lake Placid, New York, United States

Year of Games: 1980

Architect: Distin & Wilson

Home to the Miracle on Ice, the U.S. team's stunning gold-medal victory. And for that, it remains one of the most important places in U.S. Olympic history.

City: Munich, Germany

Year of Games: 1972

Architect: Behnisch and Partners

Architecture of the Munich Games is characterized by inventive use of glass and metal. The undulating roof of the Olympiahalle is difficult to ignore, and makes the building one of the most striking in Olympic history.

City: Sarajevo, Bosnia

Year of Games: 1984

Architect: Unknown

Ultra modern, with copper roof, the original Zetra Ice Stadium was destroyed almost completely during the Bosnian war. In 1997, reconstruction began revamping the arena and renaming it Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch after the former President of the International Olympic Committee. The building continues to host athletic events and houses a museum dedicated to the 1984 Games.

City: Lillehammer, Norway

Year of Games: 1994

Architect: Niels Torp and Biong & Biong

Known as the Viking Ship, this venue is noted for its striking profile and connection to Norwegian lore. Used for speed skating during the 1992 Winter Games, the Hall has hosteled track cycling, association football, and ice sledge speed racing since opening

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 2012

Architect: Magma Architecture

One of the London's impermanent venues, the Olympic Shooting Venue is situated at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. Comprised of three PVC tents, the structures are noted for the extruded ventilation circles that contrast the white skin and give some character to the otherwise bland membranes. In London's quest to be one of the greenest Olympics, collapsable and reusable buildings have been privileged. Once the Games are complete, these shooting tents will make way to Glasgow for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

City: Athens, Greece

Year of Games: 2004

Architect: Santiago Calatrava

While the original stadium was built about 20 years prior, the dynamic, undulating roofline of the Olympic Stadium, also known as the "Spiros Louis", was created by famed contemporary architect Santiago Calatrava. The energetic design fits the location of the Olympic track and field games. The grass for the field is organized in modular containers to optimize irrigation and drainage efficiency.

City: Mexico City, Mexico

Year of Games: 1968

Architect: Edmundo Gutiérrez Bringas, Antonio Recamier, Manuel Rosen, Javier Valverde

The swimming venue of the 1968 Mexico City games is also the site of the only gold medal one by a Mexican athlete. Felipe Muñoz claimed 200 meter breast stroke glory. The building claims a place as one of Mexico City's architectural gems thanks to its unique metal frame and large glass facade.

City: Sydney, Australia

Year of Games: 2000

Architect: Ron Webb

Namesake Edgar "Dunc" Grey was the first Australian to claim Olympic gold, winning a cycling medal at the 1932 Los Angeles games. The Velodrome is built with gorgeous Baltic Pine from Finland.

City: Sydney, Australia

Year of Games: 2000

Architect: Bligh Lobb Sports Architects

The Sydney Olympic Stadium, also known just as Stadium Australia, was completed in time for the 2000 Olympic Games. At a 110,000 capacity, it is also the largest Olympic stadium ever built and the largest stadium in Australia.

City: Athens, Greece

Year: 2004

Architect: Santiago Calatrava

The second building refurbished by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava for the 2004 Summer Olympics, the Athens Olympic Velodrome is the most successful. The twin roofs covering the stands give the building distinction and make it one of the most memorable cycling venues in Olympic history.

City: Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Year of Games: 1996

Architect: Hastings+Chivetta Architects

Although this structure may seem like another indoor pool arena, the roof of solar panels, designed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute, produce electricity for the Georgia Tech power grid and also to heat the water in the pool, which runs through pipes that circulate onto the roof.

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 2012

Architect: Populous

This RIBA 2012 Award shortlist structure has a track and field that has been carved out of the natural soft clay found on the site. The curvature of the land has also been worked into the organization of the warm-up and changing areas in relation to the areas for sporting events.

City: Seoul, Korea

Year of Games: 1988

Architect: David H. Geiger

The roof of David H. Geiger Olympic Gymnastics Area sports is a revolutionary self-supporting cable dome. Its four-layer fabric cladding weighs it in at 2psf as the first of its kind.

City: Rome, Italy

Year of Games: 1960

Architect: Enrico Del Debbio and Aniballe Vitellozzi

The Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto is the aquatics center of the Foro Italico in Rome. For our money, the wall decorations take some beating in the history of Olympic venues.

City: Melbourne, Australia

Year of Games: 1956

Architect: Kevin Borland, Peter McIntyre, John and Phyllis Murphy

The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, originally known as the Olympic pool, made history as the first fully indoor Olympic swimming venue. It is the only major structure from the 1956 games that still has its original facade intact.

City: Mexico City

Year of Games: 1968

Architect: Augusto Perez, Raul Salinas and Jorge Bravo Moro.

The stadium was originally built in 1952 as a general site for sporting events. It wasn't until 16 years later, in 1968, when the stadium got approximately 14,000 additional seats and an Olympic cauldron. Its east wall is now home to a Diego Rivera mural, called "The University, the Mexican family, peace and youth sports."

City: Helsinki, Finland

Year of Games: 1952

Architect: Jorma Jarvi

The Helsinki Swimming Stadium, originally designed for the Olympic games of 1940, was not finished until 1947, due to the cancellation of the 1940 games because of WWII. The efforts of architect Jorma Järvi were not in vain, however, as the stadium was used just 5 years later for the 1952 games. The structure is a brilliant example of 1930s Functionalist architecture.

City: Beijing, China

Year of Games: 2008

Architect: PTW Architects, CSCEC, CCDI, and Arup

The square Water Cube was envisioned as a complimentary structure to the round Bird's Nest stadium. The Chinese design partners felt that the square shape was more symbolic in Chinese architecture, while the Australian partners lobbied to cover the structure in bubbles to recall the aquatic sports that occur inside of it. In Chinese culture, the square represents the earth, while the circle, embodied by the Bird's Nest, symbolizes the heavens.

City: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Year of Games: 2002

Architect: WET Design (cauldron), Arrow Dynamics (frame), Western Glass (glass pieces)

The Olympic cauldron at Salt Lake City took inspiration from the 2002 official motto of the games: "light the fire within" in combination with the theme of the games, "Fire and Ice", to create a dramatic steel and glass structure based on the shape of an icicle. Standing 72 feet tall, the flame within the glass and steel icicle burns at 900 degrees, Fahrenheit. Small jets constantly circulate water around the glass of the cauldron to prevent cracking under the extreme heat.

City: Munich, Germany

Year of Games: 1972

Architect: Behnisch & Partner

Unique roof construction gives this building its status. A lightweight stressed-skin structure, the weight is upheld through tension only, and not compression. Support is provided by a double curvature of the roof and pretensioned guy wires. Most remember the pool as the site Mark Spitz spirited to a then record 7 individual gold medals.

City: Olympia, Greece

Year of Games: 776 BC

Architect: Unknown

Olympia was the site of and the namesake of the first Olympic games. The origins are shrouded in mystery, but in myth, the dactyl Herakles (different from the Herakles with a club and lion skin) raced his brothers at Olympia, and the winner was crowned with a laurel wreath. The base in mythology leads us to believe that the original games had sacred roots or some ties to worshipping the gods.

Of course, the Palestra has no role in the Games as we know them. However, the structure remains a powerful place and a spiritual home for international athletics.

City: Montreal, Canada

Year of Games: 1976

Architect: Roger Taillibert

Montreal's Olympic Stadium has earned the nickname "The Big O" due to the doughnut shape of the permanent component to its roof. Roger Taillibert designed the roof to be retractable, which would be opened and closed by a 574 ft tower, the tallest inclined tower in the world. Despite hiccups in construction—functional elements were not complete for the Olympic's themselves—we champion this iconic structure for shear ambition (and for being a masterpiece of Organic Modern architecture.

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 2012

Architect: Hopkins Architects

The roof of the velodome was designed to reflect the geometry of cycling while also being lightweight and efficient in the same manner of a bike. The lights and places for natural ventilation in the velodome reduce the need for artificial lighting and air conditioning, and the collection of rainwater from the roof reduced the need of water from the city's municipal system.

City: Los Angeles, California, United States

Year of Games: 1932, 1984

Architect: John and Donald Parkinson

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is an Olympic multi-tasker. The stadium is the only one to have been home to two Olympic games, one in 1932 and one in 1984. It is also the only Olympic stadium to have hosted the Superbowl and World Series. The Olympic cauldron, which was added to the stadium for the 1932 games, and is still lit while the Olympic Games are going on, and during other special occasions, like during every fourth quarter of a USC football game.

City: Tokyo, Japan

Year of Games: 1964

Architect: Kenzo Tange

Kenzo Tange's Olympic Stadium in Tokyo is regarded as one of the pinnacles of modern Japanese architectural design. The building consists of two semi-circles slightly offset from each other, allowing the ends of the building to finish in tapered points. The facade swoops and dives aerodynamically in a fashion which accommodates the ambient weather potential of hurricane-force winds.

City: London, U.K.

Year of Games: 2012

Architect: Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid designed the aquatic center in 2004, before London won the Olympic bid. The two wings of the structure, which expand the capacity to 17,500, are temporary, and after the games are over, will be removed to reduce the capacity to 2,500.

City: Munich, Germany

Year of Games: 1972

Architect: Günther Behnisch

The stadium's sweeping glass and steel canopies represent the first large-scale use of this kind of design. The architect took inspiration from the Alps, while also wanting to effectively offer a counterpart to the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics under the Nazi regime. The canopy was envisioned to symbolize the new Germany, which was echoed in the official motto of that year's Olympics: "The Happy Games."

Despite the dark legacy granted the event by the Munich Massacre of September 5, 1972, the Stadium remains evidence of the positive intent of the Olympics as a cultural connector.

City: Beijing, China

Year of Games: 2008

Architect: Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Stefan Marbach, Ai Weiwei, Li Xinggang

When conceptualizing the structure, the design team wanted something new for China that was both porous and a space for people to collect and watch the events. The curving shape of the building combined with the interwoven bands of metal dashing around its perimeter give the inspiration for the nickname to this building: the Bird's Nest.