Hot on the heels of last week’s confirmation that Paris won its bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, the city today revealed its first plans for how the competition will take over the city, including an inspired location for the beach volleyball stadium: under the Eiffel Tower, just inland from the River Seine.
Architecture firm Populous and engineering group Egis are in charge of the project, and their renderings, approved last week by the Olympic committee, show that the Volleyball stadium will sit squarely in the Champ des Mars, the large green space that begins at the foot of the tower, stretching away from the river towards the military academy.
The plan is to establish 38 Olympic and Paralympic venues across the capital using a combination of existing sites and structures built specifically for the games, according to The Journal.ie. The Stade de France, initially built for the 1998 World Cup and a frequent host to artists like Beyoncé and The Rolling Stones, will serve as the main Olympic Stadium—a change from recent European Summer games such as London and Athens, where an Olympic Stadiums were built from scratch.
Sustainability, as well as costs, have been at the forefront of the architects’ minds during the planning process. The hope is to make this the most sustainable games ever, as Dezeen notes, with the city firmly committed to the 2016 Paris Agreement to reduce global carbon emissions. Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot unveiled a plan to ban all gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2040, and also announced that the country will cease using coal to produce its electricity from 2022.
By not having to construct a vast number of new buildings over the next few years, the games’ toll on the environment will be far reduced. The architects have instead sought to integrate the stadiums into Paris’ existing urban landscape—a decision that doesn’t hurt when you have the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysées, the Louvre and the river ready to serve as magnificent backdrops.
