Tales of the Olympic city: memory, narrative and the built environment

Authors

  • John R. Gold Oxford Brookes University
  • Margaret M. Gold London Metropolitan University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2019133954

Keywords:

Olympics, Memory, London 2012, Narrative, Contestation

Abstract

The Olympics have a greater, more profound and more pervasive impact on the urban fabric of their host cities than any other sporting or cultural event.  This paper is concerned with issues of memory and remembering in Olympic host cities.  After a contextual introduction, it employs a case study of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (QEOP), the main event space for the London 2012 Summer Games, to supply insight into how to read the urban traces of Olympic memory.  Three key themes are identified when interpreting the memories associated with the Park and its built structures, namely: treatment of the area’s displaced past, memorializing the Games, and with memory legacy.  The ensuing discussion section then adopts a historiographic slant, stressing the importance of narrative and offering wider conclusions about Olympic memory and the city.

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Author Biographies

John R. Gold, Oxford Brookes University

John R. Gold is Professor of Urban Historical Geography in the Department of Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University, Special Appointed Professor in the Graduate School of Governance Studies at Meiji University (Tokyo, Japan) and Editor (with Margaret Gold) of the journal ‘Planning Perspectives’. A frequent radio and television broadcaster, he is the author or editor of 23 books on architectural and cultural subjects. These include: Cities of Culture: Staging International Festivals and the Urban Agenda, 1851-2000 (Ashgate, 2005), The Practice of Modernism: Modern Architects and Urban Transformation, 1954-72 (Routledge, 2007), Olympic Cities: City Agendas, Planning, and the World’s Games, 1896-2016 (Routledge, three editions: 2007, 2011, 2016), The Making of Olympic Cities (Routledge, 2012) and Festival Cities: Culture, Planning and Urban Life since 1918 (Routledge, 2019-20). Many have appeared in foreign language translations. jrgold@brookes.ac.uk

Margaret M. Gold, London Metropolitan University

Margaret M. Gold lectures in cultural tourism and events management at London Metropolitan University and at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is Editor (with John Gold) of the journal 'Planning Perspectives'. Her books include Imagining Scotland (Scolar Press, 1995), Cities of Culture: Staging International Festivals and the Urban Agenda, 1851-2000 (Ashgate, 2005), Olympic Cities: City Agendas, Planning, and the World's Games (Routledge, three editions: 2007, 2011, 2016), a four-volume edited collection on The Making of Olympic Cities (Routledge, 2012), and Festival Cities: Culture, Planning and Urban Life since 1918 (Routledge, 2019-20). Her current research interests include heritage interpretation and cultural festivals. m.gold@londonmet.ac.uk

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Published

2019-09-27

How to Cite

Gold, J. R., & Gold, M. M. (2019). Tales of the Olympic city: memory, narrative and the built environment. ZARCH. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture and Urbanism, (13), 12–33. https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_zarch/zarch.2019133954

Issue

No. 13 (2019): The traces of the ephemeral

Section

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