The Chicago Tribune reports that key parts of Chicago’s bid to become the U.S. candidate for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games were “churned” out half a world away via the Internet from China, where architects, designers and technicians involved in the bid live.
According to the newspaper China’s ties to Chicago’s Olympic bid began last spring when Mayor Richard Daley announced plans for Chicago’s 2016 bid. Within weeks of the announcement the Mayor went to Beijing to observe preparations for the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.
Chicago architects working for the 2016 bid say that outsourcing work to China not only saves money, but also doubles how much can be done under tight deadlines, since one side or the other is always awake and working.
The Times reports that eight young Chinese engineers produced a flashy digital animated aerial film of the city. Patrick Ryan, Chicago 2016 bid chairman, said the transoceanic effort made flying over Chicago “come alive”. He said, “it really, really helped our bid. It allowed us to show the compactness of the area where we hope to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Ben Wood, the architect overseeing the proposed main stadium, lives in Shanghai and says one of the stadiums’ signature feature – most of which would be recycled once the Games are over – was inspired by China’s environmental crisis. He said, “in the case of the Chicago Olympics we’re going to showcase how to be green, how to be responsible, how to be sustainable. A sustainable Olympics doesn’t mean leaving behind a billion dollar stadium, and a lot of this we owe to China because they are having to deal with these issues”.
Chicago 2016 has proposed a temporary 80,000-seat stadium and a small stadium or amphitheatre that would remain after the Games. Wood said, “a temporary stadium made infinite sense because leaving 100,000 seats in the middle of an Olmsted lawn is not leaving it better than you found it”.
