Synopsis
Olympic Halftime is a documentary, that shows and reflects on the gestalt and economic impact of the Olympic architecture and urban development in several selected locations in Europe and Asia, that have already hosted the event and are preparing for another round. The choice of the cities is balanced so that we can document various examples of pros and cons and the strengths and weaknesses of the Olympics in urban terms. In Europe, we will visit Olympia and Athens as the “birthplace” of both the ancient and the modern Olympics where most stadia are currently decaying, and Paris where the Olympics took place twice and a third edition is in preparation for 2024 on the backdrop of the typically French public protests. What was the benefit of the Olympics for those cities and countries? What are the pros and cons of organising mass sports events? In addition to Europe, we will also visit Asia to watch different approach to organising the Olympics as well as their architectural gestalt and impact on the public space – in Beijing, the citiy that have the organising experience and is now in “half time” of preparations for the upcoming Games Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022).