Munich Olympiapark

A remarkable modern landscape, made for the 1972 Olympics. Previously, the site was dull and flat, surrounded with ugly buildings and strewn with heaps of rubble cleared from the 1945 bombing of Munich. It was transformed into a sinuous web of tented structures. The roof flows with the land and the landform sweeps into the water. Geometrically, there were two varieties of abstract modernism: rectilinear and curvelinear. The Olympiapark is a superb example of curvilinear modernism. Behnish were the architects, Frei Otto designed the tented structures, Günter Grizmek was the landscape architect. As throughout history, successful projects require the professions to be united. Of all the twentieth century's Olympic parks, this is the only one which has a landscape quality which matches that of the ancient Olympia. The Park can be seen as a legacy from the Games to the citizens of Munich.