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At this year's Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City hopes to pass the torch of
environmental design.
By Tess Taylor
The Metropolis Observed
February 2002
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During the Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City will host a conference on the
physical fitness of cities. Topics include green buildings like the Olympic
Oval speed-skating arena (above) and Bill McDonough's European Headquarters
for Nike (below).
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Every four years the Olympic Games descend upon one optimistic city. Planners
plan, architects build, and tens of thousands of fans arrive for three weeks
of international sport. But after the teams and announcers have gone, the
big convention centers and stadiums that housed the events become useless
empty shells. The display of human fitness uses tremendous urban resources
on short-lived "improvements." This year, for example, in preparation
for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City has spent $15 million on temporary
parking lots that will be obsolete by April.
But thanks to a visionary planner, this year's winter games will highlight
the best in urban achievement as well. Stephen Goldsmith, Salt Lake City's
planning director, is organizing "The Physical Fitness of Cities: Vision
and Ethics in City Building," a conference and exhibition that will
coincide with the games. In addition to watching curling and luge events,
visitors to this month's Olympics will have a chance to explore the world's
best offerings in sustainable design, from renewable energy to renovated
riparian habitats.
The idea for the conference was born when Goldsmith met with Moshe Safdie,
architect of the city's stunning (and sustainable) new public library. "We
were discussing green design, and Moshe pointed out that buildings can be
physically fit. We hit on the phrase," Goldsmith says. "What
if, in conjunction with the Olympics, we sponsored an international conference
addressing the physical fitness of cities? We saw the enormous potential:
cities have respiratory systems, circulatory systems, systems of transport.
What if we designed a conference that showcased the best and fittest
of these?"
The two were off and running. With a few phone calls, Goldsmith set his
plan in motion: he invited a global network of planners and designers to
attend the conference, and he solicited countries to send their best examples
of resourceful, ethical, state-of-the-art design for an exhibition. As a
result, the hall that will hold a display of historic Olympic torches will
also house exhibits on more energy-efficient forms of lighting. Meanwhile
the best minds in the sustainable-design world--including Safdie, Bill McDonough,
Ray Suarez, Wolf Daseking, Michael Sorkin, and Peter Calthorpe--will meet
to discuss the future of green design in urban environments.
Many of the 84 countries participating in the Olympics have sent examples
of local approaches to sustainable design for the exhibition--from multiuse
neighborhood revitalization in Hakata, Japan, to bioswale gray-water treatment
in Freiburg, Germany. Other examples include advances in photovoltaic lighting
from the Netherlands, sustainable wattage from a wind farm in Wyoming, and
a riparian habitat restoration project in Brooklyn. In addition to exhibiting
the international submissions, Goldsmith has acquired two other shows: Ten
Shades of Green, an exhibit about environmental sensitivity and good design,
which originated at the Architectural League of New York; and Yesterday's
Tomorrows, a show documenting the history of how designers have envisioned
the future, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution.
Goldsmith hopes to inspire fellow Salt Lake City residents to begin envisioning
a more sustainable future. "Americans go to Europe and come back excited,"
he says. "They love the textures of intimacy, light, and shadow. They
love the human scale, the nearby restaurants, the pedestrian accessibility.
They come back talking--suddenly they are noticing design. I want this conference
to create that sensation here in Salt Lake City."
»
More on sustainablity in our Sustainable Metropolis section
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