The idea of the Masterplan of the Rio Olympic Park is to approach the entire site as a "Campus" where the various facilities would be connected and integrated through an intensive landscaping of the area in all levels, addressing three key issues:
1 - How to solve the problem of separation and organization of the various flows_ especially the accredited (back of house) and the spectators (front of house)_ within the security perimeter, granting controlled access and space for all the complex program of each venue to be implemented, and still have the necessary ‘empty’ space around the buildings?
2 - How to connect these various venues and facilities, creating some kind of themed ‘Sports Park’ which could remain viable as a self-sustained legacy after the Olympics, as a demanding new open public space and also as a controlled world-class training center at the same time?
3 - How to relate this new hybrid park with the context of cityscape of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, an ever sprawling region famous for its beautiful idyllic beaches mingled with countless private condos and shopping centers set along wide high-speed avenues, a region the lacks the traditional pedestrian public spaces of the Center and South regions of the city?
The Park unfolds basically into two main levels (0.00 and + 6.00 m), according to a circulation system configured by two long and wide orthogonal walkways associated to a network of generous plazas and ramps, in a series of suspended platforms running through the entire extension of the site, connecting the venues and facilities in a sort of “Double-Decker-Landscape”. The ground level would be reserved mainly for the FOPs (fields of play, the competition and warm-up areas) and operational compounds. A second level (intended only for the spectators’ flow and amenities) would be created by two major perpendicular axis attached to series of ramps and platforms (suspended plazas), smoothly connecting the facilities to each other. From this upper level (+6.00m), as the crowds flows through this suspended public space, we can have an overview of the competition areas on the ground level and also a better perception of the artificial and natural landscapes, with the lake and surrounding mountains as a background.
Under the landscape, more program: the space under the upper level of the grid has been sliced into other levels, allowing spaces of greater ceiling heights or smaller subdivisions to house the Games Overlay program adjacent to each venue. Thus we would have, in each facility, a complete separation between the operational areas (BOH) and the public areas (FOH), but through a vertical sectorization (in section) instead of the usual horizontal sectorization (in plan). This apparently radical split-level strategy turns out to be a very efficient design solution of sports facilities planned to house large international events, where a clear separation of the spectators flow (FOH) from the accredited flows (BOH) is essential. This circulation network formed by a combination of landscaped walkways and plazas is therefore a large area destined only for the pedestrian public, granting access to all venues and amenity areas: a suspended landscape connecting all facilities, free from the interference of operational flows and transit of vehicles.
