Clunky side extensions to the aquatic centre

My earlier post refers.
:-)

Olympic Pool

Much as I would like this to be about a titanic pool table, it is a quick post with a couple of images from our trip to the Zaha Hadid designed aquatics centre for London 2012.

The pool exceeded my expectations, which were admittedly low, in that it created a good environment for swimmers and spectators.

Despite the quite clunky nature of the extensions, it looks likely that the visuals for the main events have been compromised for the legacy set up (or is that better for sustainability?!). But I think, on reflection, that is a good thing in an attempt to avoid the white elephant status of the water cube in Beijing for which they are struggling to find uses.

It became clear once inside what the plan was for the legacy mode, and hopefully it will work well as a regular pool. Images to follow.

There were 4 primary materials visible: concrete, glass, stainless steel, and a bit if timber (if you look really hard!).  It's a tried & tested combination which seems to work well at the moment.  We'll have to wait and see whether it ages well. I have concerns over the steel!

The roof form inside is quite wavy, it will be interesting to see how it affects the sounds the swimmers hear.. You get the sense that it might focus things on them, heightening awareness of the crowd.

The diving boards reminded me of water spouts, which is appropriate I suppose, and I think they will be a focus for images during the games.

As I so often am with new Architecture, I was left with the question "how on earth are they going to dust that?!"

catch up....

Well, time has flown since we went to the Olympic stadium, we managed to clock up 2,100 miles driving to the south of France and back again, and had a great time eating bread, cheese & wine. And yes, we had boursin too.

The Olympic stadium was an interesting experience - the outside area is definitely coming together with the landscaping scheme - the abundance of water on the site makes a huge difference.  The stadium itself was interesting when we compared it to the Bird's Nest in Beijing.  The former was very much a multi-purpose venue - it was for the Olympics, but it was also sending a message to the world.  China had arrived.  London is very much a venue, functional and reasonably attractive from the outside.  Views on the inside were good, and when we visited, we were able to circumnavigate the arena (mostly - there was still some building work going on) which gave you the opportunity to see all the areas of the arena, and therefore, various sports, depending on your seat.  So from a spectator point of view, it should be a good venue.

I'll post some more pictures once I locate the lead to get the photos off the camera!

The weeks in the run up to the road trip were quite busy at work and home, and so the 2012 challenge, which is what this is all about after all, has taken a bit a back seat.  My average has dropped quite a bit, but I'm still at around 100/week which will keep me on track for 20.12 weeks.  However, with an impending silly period at work, coupled with the swimming leg of a triathlon relay coming up, I've decided to defer my completion until May 25th, finishing the distance with a 750m swim at the rowing venue for the Olympics.  It's also been rather helpful as I've realised how quickly muscle mass disappears when not being used - it's been tough getting back into it!

Next weekend sees us visit the Olympic site for the last time before the games to see the aquatics centre, which still looks a bit odd - the entrance - or rather where the entrance should be - is a classic piece of hadid handiwork, with doors on an angle disorientating the user.  The first time I went into an Hadid building at Vitra, I actually felt a bit queasy!

Anyhow - my spreadsheet tells me I have completed 1550km to date, so on my journey to Rome from Bristol, I have just reached the coast at Genoa - Rome is in sight!!!

Et bonjour provence

:-)

First images

Nice sunny day!

Onwards.

So after a blistering week where I surpassed my previous highest distance, work and preparations for our upcoming road trip gave me the lowest mileage week to date <sad face>

75km has put a bit of a dent in the average, but it's still holding out above 105km/week so we're on target for the 20.12 week target.  I need to make sure I can clock up 20km somehow in the next week while we're on the road.

My developing spreadsheet with distances etc seems to have dropped off in the update.  You can find my distance log here.

Sunday of this week sees us attending the Olympic Stadium in London for what I believe is the first test event there.  From the ticketmaster correspondence we've been getting I don't think it's going to be anywhere near full, unsurprising given that it will just be people like me, completing the 2012 challenge, who will be on display.  Oh, there is a bonus that we have a 'show' with lots of people from tv shows like X Factor singing for us.  Hoping to be long gone by then.

Wifi permitting, we'll post a few pictures and a small commentary when we've been.

I wonder how it will measure up...?

Viva.

So no sooner than I find myself in Switzerland, I blink, and I'm in Italy.

It feels like I'm on the final stretch of my journey as I make my way along the Aosta valley (where we recently skied - flying is so much easier). 

In reality though, I still have 800km to go to get to Rome, which at the current rate of progress will take me about 8 weeks. Although after attacking the treadmill on Tuesday, I may need to reassess that.. Still very sore two days after the event.

Tonight sees a visit (in the real world) to see Pop Will Eat Itself in their latest incarnation.  Expectations have been set relatively low by the latest album, but we'll go with open minds, and partially closed aural canals.