When the Olympic Games open in Tokyo on Friday, the seats will be empty in the new Olympic Stadium, built for 68,000 spectators. But in news reports, you may hear a feel-good story about how Japanese architect Kengo Kumaconceived the stadium’s design as a "living tree,” with landscaped terraces ringing a structure faced in woods harvested from all 47 of Japan’s prefectures.
Yet the backstory to this environmental narrative, you will recall, is more complex, and darker. The stadium’s original designers, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), claimed the design of the base structure—the all-important bowl and its back-up functional spaces—was lifted without permission from their competition-winning scheme, after the London-based firm was unceremoniously dismissed in 2015.
You have 0 complimentary articles remaining.
Unlimited access + premium benefits for as low as $1.99/month.