AECOM's basketball arena for Rio 2016 unveiled
Rio 2016 organisers have unveiled the 16,000-capacity basketball venue for the Games which forms part of the city’s US$195m (£136.3m, €179.3m) AECOM-designed Olympic Training Centre (OTC).
Carioca Arena 1, the largest venue in the Barra Olympic Park, will also hold the wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby during the Paralympics, as well as tests for the powerlifting and wrestling later this month.
The stadium consists of 5,000 permanent and 11,000 contemporary seats, and forms part of the 300-acre OTC alongside the Carioca Arena 2, the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Rio Olympic Velodrome.
Following the Games, the OTC will provide tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, badminton, fencing, taekwondo, judo and athletics facilities for elite sports people, and will also be made available for school children and social projects.
An Olympic-standard athletics track and two beach volleyball courts will be added to the park as well as a 166-bedroom dormitory for athletes. After the Games, the park will be able to host international sporting events, concerts and exhibitions.
Janeth Arcain and Hortencia Marcari – two members of the silver medal winning Brazil team in Atlanta 1996 – inaugurated the venue.
Marcari said the most important thing was that the arena inspires players, while Arcain added: “Brazilian fans always get very involved in live sport and I’m sure they will create an electric atmosphere during the Games.”
AECOM have partnered with Rio-based DG Architecture, London studio Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Pujol Barcelona Architects, and IMG Sports and Expedition for the OTC masterplan. The team was chosen from a field of 59 candidates originating from 18 countries.
The masterplan for the site includes three phases: the creation of the Rio Olympic Park area for the 2016 Games, a transition plan and the conversion of the site to create a sporting legacy after 2016.
Rio 2016 basketball Paralympics Olympics AECOMGolf course for Rio 2016 unveiled
Rio 2016 Olympic Park declared ‘92 per cent complete’
Rio 2016 cuts budget by 30 per cent, awards contracts to small businesses
Technogym lands Rio 2016 Olympics contract


“We finally have a space worthy of our collection”: V&A launches huge new Photography Centre

Immersive storytelling museum takes pride of place at revamped Tiffany & Co. in NYC following redesign led by Peter Marino and OMA

Elegant Dior spa inspired by nature opens at Hôtel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes

Bjarke Ingels among finalists chosen in design competition for National Museum of the United States Navy

De Matos Ryan and AOC Architecture prepare to open Young V&A London

ACPV Architects Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel creates new Bulgari Tokyo

Manchester City submits £300m Populous-designed plans to redevelop Etihad Stadium and add 400-bedroom hotel

Woods Bagot completes $120m refurb of Continental Sorrento with subterranean bathhouse and spa

New Dior spa carriage opens aboard Belmond’s luxury Royal Scotsman train

Bjarke Ingels creates meandering eco distillery attraction for Blue Run Kentucky

bbspa_Group to realise urban destination spa inside Sardinian football stadium

Thinkwell to deliver the world's first Play-Doh attractions in Saudi Arabia

Jayasom partners with Amaala to unveil multigenerational health resort in Saudi Arabia

OMA's Ellen van Loon is the visionary behind new cultural centre for Manchester

James Corner Field Operations creates Highline for London

Esbjerg’s landmark maritime center, designed by WERK Arkitekter and Snøhetta, opens to the public

SEVEN to open world’s first indoor Discovery Adventures centres in Saudi Arabia

Fun and fear drive new Universal attraction concepts for Texas and Las Vegas

Voelker Gray Design creates 10-acre hot springs wellness haven for Atlanta

AIDarchitecten create healing spa for Antwerp's Botanic Sanctuary

Hollaway Studio's Seahive would bring blue health to South-East England

SEVEN to invest US$13bn in developing entertainment destinations across Saudi Arabia

World Spa’s expansive 50,000sq ft urban bathhouse and wellness club opens in Brooklyn

Floating Salmon Eye visitor attraction by Kvorning Design highlights sustainable aquaculture

White Arkitekter's Wood Hotel in Skellefteå Swedish Lapland is climate positive and made from local timber

Nohlab's 'Everything' installation among Noor Riyadh festival highlights

Bob Iger's return to Disney sparks major restructuring focused on creativity and storytelling

Therme Group plans US$200m urban wellbeing resort in South Korea

Digital art installation in Nanjing helps the public keep an eye on exoplanets

First glimpses revealed of flagship Blue Zones Centre in Miami
From parks designed to mitigate the effects of flooding to warming huts for one of the world’s coldest cities, these projects have been designed for increasingly extreme climates