Forgotten Integration: An investigation into the integration of Post-Olympic Parks

<p>The Summer Olympics occur every four years, capturing the hearts of the world for a nite period of time. During this time, the eyes of the world are set on the host city of whom provide a facility and an infrastructure to accommodate not only the athletes, but the millions of spectators that attend the events and the memorable moments that ensue. While the Summer Olympics and it’s park are focused heavily upon during the games, integration of the site into the host city has become largely forgotten post-Olympics. Ultimately, these once vast locations have now become deserted and dystopia environments within the host city. This thesis addresses the problem of integrating Olympic parks back into the context of the host city by enabling new and diverse spaces. The work of Charles Waldheim, Rem Koolhaas, Alex Wall, Tricia Cusack and Dennis Saunders are employed over five main ideas: wetland urbanism, urban grid, edge extension, fragmented distribution and landscape occupation. Strategic integration of post-Olympic Sites into the existing host city can arguably be done so by creating a multi-programmatic system that adapts and transforms to respond to the dynamic needs of both the Olympic Site and the local urban context of the surrounding city. This thesis considers the task of integrating the Sydney Olympic Park back into Sydney’s context, transforming its current form into a state of integration with the host city that is successful. The thesis produces a design, based on five key design principles which have been created through conclusions of research: wetlands, extension, grid, distribution and occupation.</p>

Forgotten Integration: An investigation into the integration of Post-Olympic Parks

<p>The Summer Olympics occur every four years, capturing the hearts of the world for a nite period of time. During this time, the eyes of the world are set on the host city of whom provide a facility and an infrastructure to accommodate not only the athletes, but the millions of spectators that attend the events and the memorable moments that ensue. While the Summer Olympics and it’s park are focused heavily upon during the games, integration of the site into the host city has become largely forgotten post-Olympics. Ultimately, these once vast locations have now become deserted and dystopia environments within the host city. This thesis addresses the problem of integrating Olympic parks back into the context of the host city by enabling new and diverse spaces. The work of Charles Waldheim, Rem Koolhaas, Alex Wall, Tricia Cusack and Dennis Saunders are employed over five main ideas: wetland urbanism, urban grid, edge extension, fragmented distribution and landscape occupation. Strategic integration of post-Olympic Sites into the existing host city can arguably be done so by creating a multi-programmatic system that adapts and transforms to respond to the dynamic needs of both the Olympic Site and the local urban context of the surrounding city. This thesis considers the task of integrating the Sydney Olympic Park back into Sydney’s context, transforming its current form into a state of integration with the host city that is successful. The thesis produces a design, based on five key design principles which have been created through conclusions of research: wetlands, extension, grid, distribution and occupation.</p>

Chemosociality in Multispecies Worlds

Chemosocial communities have formed in Sydney, Australia, as a result of encounters with industrial pollution. If biosociality involves social relationships that emerge from biological conditions, then chemosociality involves altered, attenuated, or augmented relationships that emerge with chemical exposures. Some social groups have coalesced around place-based political action, while other chemosocial associations have proved to be ephemeral, evanescent, and conditional. Building on earlier work by multispecies ethnographers who have studied social relationships among humans and animals, this article follows chemicals into more-than-human realms. Fragile multispecies worlds have emerged in a complex landscape shaped by chemical weapons industries, municipal landfills, government remediation programs, real estate speculation, and a multitude of chemical and biological agents. Legacy dumping grounds in the Sydney Olympic Park have become habitat for the green and golden bell frog, an endangered species. While the normal world order of this frog has been lost with the spread of a deadly fungal disease, toxic chemicals have enabled the continuation of its social life. Temporary spaces of immunity have emerged where life is protected and threats are negated by poisonous compounds that double as a cure.

Chemosociality in Multispecies Worlds: Endangered Frogs and Toxic Possibilities in Sydney, Australia

Chemosocial communities have formed in Sydney, Australia, as a result of encounters with industrial pollution. If biosociality involves social relationships that emerge from biological conditions, then chemosociality involves altered, attenuated, or augmented relationships that emerge with chemical exposures. Some social groups have coalesced around place-based political action, while other chemosocial associations have proved to be ephemeral, evanescent, and conditional. Building on earlier work by multispecies ethnographers who have studied social relationships among humans and animals, this article follows chemicals into more than human realms. Fragile multispecies worlds have emerged in a complex landscape shaped by chemical weapons industries, municipal landfills, government remediation programs, real estate speculation, and a multitude of chemical and biological agents. Legacy dumping grounds in the Sydney Olympic Park have become habitat for the Green and Golden Bell Frog, an endangered species. While the normal world order of this frog has been lost, with the spread of a deadly fungal disease, toxic chemicals have enabled for the continuation of its social life. Temporary spaces of immunity have emerged where life is protected and threats are negated by poisonous compounds that double as a cure.

Social Capital, Local Communities and Culture-led Urban Regeneration Processes: The Sydney Olympic Park Experience

Culture has become increasingly important in regeneration processes designed to deal with urban futures. Urban regeneration processes in which culture has played a prominent role range from large-scale public investments in cultural facilities and artefacts as ‘hallmarks’ of urban regeneration projects (e.g. Guggenheim Bilbao), through to the use of ‘one shot’ cultural events such as the Olympic Games as a catalyst and engine for regenerating urban areas. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between social capital (SC), local communities and the culture-led regeneration process at Sydney Olympic Park (SOP), New South Wales, Australia. The catalyst for the transformation of an industrial wasteland into SOP was the awarding of the Olympics to Sydney in 1993. A convenience sample of 47 professional reports associated with the regeneration process at SOP between 1993 and 2010 were analyzed, the aim being to understand how local communities had been linked to the regeneration process through SC. Results from the analysis identified three principal associations between SC, local communities and the ongoing SOP regeneration process. The first association related to how, during the early years of the regeneration process, SC was used as a means of expressing concern about how governance mechanisms implemented at SOP might adversely impact the ability of local communities to engage in decision making that affected their local environment. The second related to the use of community development programs to build SC in local communities through the SOP development. The third related to a call for the development of measures to understand how the development of SOP impacts on the SC in local communities. Eight in-depth interviews with professionals involved in the regeneration process were used to provide further insights into the three principal associations. The paper discusses findings through reference to broader arguments surrounding the potential, capacity and nature of SC.