Sochi Unveils Massive Iceberg Skating Palace for the 2014 Winter Olympics

The Iceberg Skating Palace is designed for quick changes between figure skating and speed skating.

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Titanic fans, brace yourselves.

As Sochi gears up to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, the finishing touches will be put on the massive Iceberg Skating Palace, a wavy blue mosaic structure that hosts a figure skating and speed skating arena complete with two tiers of seats, accommodating up to 12,000 visitors. The structure was planned by the Moscow research and design institute GUP MNIIP Mosproject-4. The institute strategically arranged the building in a wavy, flexible shape to streamline the process of transitioning the rink between speed skating and figure skating events. Their design makes it possible to perform the switch in only two hours.

When the Olympics are over, the structure will be transferred to Starvopol, a province situated deep inside Russia’s mainland, to provide the people of that area with a top-of-the-line facility.

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[via DesignBoom]

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