olympics

Japan shrinks 2020 Olympic stadium

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Can the architect ,Zaha Hadid, refuse to allow changes to his design. It sounds to me like the Japanese architects are still sore about losing this competition, and this is their way of getting back. I love the design, and hope that they build it exactly the way it was designed. Also maybe Gov. Inose can ask his rich friends to donate more money to help pay for the extra costs!

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Can the architect ,Zaha Hadid, refuse to allow changes to his design.

That's herdesign...

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MarkX: "It sounds to me like the Japanese architects are still sore about losing this competition, and this is their way of getting back."

They may be sore, but I don't think this is any kind of 'revenge'. It's the government bowing to extreme pressure over costs and size, both of which were more than promised (especially the costs!). They've flip-flopped twice on this already. The design will remain, but it'll just be smaller. And yet it is STILL 40% more than the estimated cost the government gave to the IOC, so get your taxes ready.

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It seems dishonest to me to win a bid and then make changes. What about all the promised corporate funding and the war chest that they talked about? I thought part of their bid was based on them being the country that had more than enough funding.

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Japan's economy is predicated (by really intelligent commentators) to collapse from the weight of its "unsustainable" fiscal deficit before the Olympics anyway. So this controversy won't even matter in the end, after all the country's fiscal assets have dried up.

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Japan should never have got the Olympics to start with - while the people of Fukushima are still without permanent new homes.I don't quite understand how this is true :

being the country that had more than enough funding.

In "other news", Japan is still in deep debt...

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They should drop Zaha Hadid design, its cold , inhumane and doesnt match the area or Tokyo at all. To encourage Japanese growth as these olympics supposed to , the project should be done by a Japanese architect and concentrate on environment.... The whole bid reeks of under the table bribes for middle eastern oil

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"The new 70-meter architectural centerpiece— a futuristic, bike-helmet-shaped stadium—has drawn criticism that it would tower over other structures in the area, which are limited to a 15-metre height restriction, and would be visible all over the Japanese capital" "Blah...blah...blah...blah...blah...That would make the stadium visible from all over the west of Tokyo"

Yeah....right. There are plenty of buildings and other structures well in excess of 200 meters height in Tokyo that aren't visible "all over the Japanese capital". The west of Tokyo extends to Hachioji and Okutama amongst other locales

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The whole bid reeks of under the table bribes for middle eastern oil

Except that the architecture company is British, and nothing but a part Mr Zahid's paycheck will ever get back to the middle east.

Of course the bidding for the project has been rigged, and there will be plenty of money passing under the table, but that is what the Olympics is all about. The combination of the IOC, politicians, conglomerate-developers, and construction companies, all primarily financed by taxpayer money is a recipe for corruption on a colossal scale. Why do you think countries fight so hard to host the Olympics?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

doesnt match the area or Tokyo at all.

None of the architecture matches Tokyo. It is the biggest hotch potch design of any city in the world. Architectural consistency is not something that Japan is famous for. Cities here are pretty ugly.

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pochan says "Cities here are pretty ugly" I have to admit it, (although there are many places I like). I hope many people appeal the point to cities.

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Except that the architecture company is British, and nothing but a part Mr Zahid's paycheck will ever get back to the middle east.

Who is Mr Zahid???

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Exactly lol who is Zahid , get your facts right and no Zaha Hadid btw who is a woman, might be incorporated in UK but thats a middle eastern most major architect office with many many political ties to the Gulf and Japan does need the oil... everything happens for a reason .. if you dont believe me, go and check other designs... you cant really tell me her design is best there

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The Japanese always pull this prank. Before the Nagano Winter Olympics they tried to shorten the centerpiece downhill run, angering the IOC, which called it a violation of conditions. The Japanese insisted the original design would despoil the scenery in a Japanese national park.

Gimme a break, there's scores of drab looking ski hills, not to mention industrial waste sites, in plenty of national parks. The Japanese only do this as a way of sticking it to foreigners. The logic about aesthetics just isn't there, as anyone who actually has to look at the skyline of a Japanese city on a daily basis will tell you.

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