To kick off our Olympic Impact series, Dezeen profiles the most architecturally notable venues of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games – where the major theme has been renovation and reuse.
The city of Paris will be transformed into a giant festival of sport this summer after the Olympics begin on Friday, to be followed by the Paralympics at the end of August.
Most host cities in recent years have developed large new Olympic complexes on their fringes, but Paris has taken a very different approach.
Few new permanent venues
With organisers seeking to minimise new construction in order to reduce the games’ carbon footprint, nearly all of the 35 venues will either be buildings that already existed, or temporary structures erected at some of the French capital’s most famous landmarks.
Notably, Paris has used the Olympics as a vehicle to deliver renovations to several historic buildings such as the Grand Palais.
Featuring 16 of the most significant sites, here is the architecture enthusiasts’ guide to Paris 2024:
Eiffel Tower Stadium by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee
The iconic Eiffel Tower will provide a backdrop to the beach volleyball and blind football events, thanks to a temporary outdoor arena.
One of several temporary facilities delivered by architects working for the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, the Eiffel Tower Stadium will dominate the expansive alleyways and lawns of the Champ de Mars public garden.
Events: beach volleyball, blind football
Grand Palais, renovated by Chatillon Architectes
Originally built for the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, the Grand Palais has reopened following a full restoration by French studio Chatillon Architectes.
Built from 6,000 tonnes of steel, with lavish glass roofing and a Art Nouveau style stairway, it will host fencing and taekwondo events in its revamped atrium.
Events: fencing, taekwondo
Aquatics Centre by VenhoevenCS and Ateliers 2/3/4
One of only two newly built permanent sports facilities at the games is this timber swimming pool complex by Dutch studio VenhoevenCS and French practice Ateliers 2/3/4.
Hosting artistic swimming, diving and water polo events, the Aquatics Centre is constructed mainly of wood – including its swooping 80-metre-long roof. Covered with photovoltaic panels, it is one of France’s largest urban solar farms.
Connecting to the neighbouring Stade de France via footpath, the Aquatics Centre will have the capacity to switch from a 5,000-seat venue to a 2,500-seat multi-sports facility following the games. From July 2025, it will include two pools, a fitness area, a bouldering area, a paddle-tennis section and pitches for team sports.
Events: artistic swimming, diving and water polo
La Concorde by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee
Originally used as an execution site during the French Revolution, Place de la Concorde has been temporarily transformed into an action sports complex set to host 3×3 basketball, BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding events.
Scaffolding-like seating stands have been erected in the urban park to form four stadiums in close proximity, with the shared site intended to enable more efficient use of resources, set-up and dissassembly.
Events: basketball, BMX, breaking, skateboarding
Champ de Mars Arena by Jean-Michel Wilmotte
Designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, this temporary exhibition hall opened in 2021 to host events during the renovation of the Grand Palais.
Also known as the Grand Palais Éphémère, it has a wooden, modular structure and is wrapped in a plastic skin. After hosting judo and wrestling events during Paris 2024 it is expected to be dismantled.
Events: judo, wrestling
Adidas Arena by SCAU and NP2F
Opened earlier this year in a historically deprived part of northern Paris, the Adidas Arena is one of only two newly built permanent structures in the city set to be used as Olympic venues. The badminton and rhythmic gymnastics competitions will play out inside the monolithic arena, designed by French studios SCAU and NP2F Architectes.
Its 8,000 plastic seats and aluminium cladding are recycled, while the concrete in its structure was reportedly mixed on-site in a bid to reduce emissions. Most of the construction waste produced during the project was also recycled.
Since opening it has been home to Paris Basketball club, and will continue to be after the games are over, as well as hosting concerts and leisure facilities.
Events: badminton, gymnastics
Stade de France by SCAU
Designed by architects Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Claude Constantini and Michel Regembal and built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 80,000-seater Stade de France is the country’s largest stadium.
With a distinctive roof supported by 18 steel masts, it will serve as the main Olympic stadium during the games, hosting the athletics events as well as rugby sevens.
Events: athletics, rugby
La Défense Arena by Christian de Portzamparc
Located in the city’s Nanterre commune, the aluminium-and-glass-clad La Défense Arena is an indoor stadium completed by architect Christian de Portzamparc in 2017 as the home ground of rugby union club Racing 92.
The multi-purpose venue has been fitted with a temporary swimming pool for the games and will serve as the main location for the tournament’s swimming and water polo events.
Events: swimming, water polo
Piscine Georges Vallerey, renovated by AIA Life Designers
AIA Life Designers has renovated the Georges Vallerey swimming pool, named after the late record-breaking French swimmer, by adding a retractable latticed timber roof.
The team has also renovated and redesigned the changing rooms and reception area, as well as modernising signage, updating lighting and fitting an upgraded water and air-treatment system.
Located in Paris’s 20th arrondissement, the site is one of 25 pools upgraded for the Olympics and will be used for swimming training during the games.
Events: none
Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, renovated by Celnikier Grabli Architectes, OLGGA Architectes and Atelier Dutrevis Architectes
The Yves-du-Manoir stadium was the main venue at the last Olympics hosted in Paris 100 years ago. Designed by architect Louis Faure-Dujarric, it originally had a capacity of 45,000 and was Paris’ main stadium for many years until the construction of the Stade de France.
This time around it will seat a third as many spectators as it hosts the hockey at Paris 2024 following a renovation and remodelling led by Celnikier Grabli Architectes and OLGGA Architectes. It is the only venue at these games to have previously played witness to Olympic events.
After the games conclude the Yves-du-Manoir will become a home for French hockey, with additional facilities for football, rugby and athletics.
Events: hockey
Olympic Village by various
Masterplanned by architect Dominique Perrault with individual sites designed by multiple studios, the Olympic Village will house athletes for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics.
Among the many pastel-coloured residential units are apartment blocks with gridded timber and concrete structures clad with reflective terracotta tiles designed by Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés (pictured).
Design offices Concepto and Studio 5.5 have also installed 350 street lights made from salvaged scaffolding poles and lampposts.
Located north of central Paris in Seine-Saint-Denis and served by a new Métro station designed by Kengo Kuma, the village was designed to be converted into a new Parisian district with around 2,400 housing units and 119,000 square metres of additional facilities and offices after the games, including a mass timber office by architecture studio Dream.
Events: none
Grande Nef Lucien-Belloni, renovated by Chatillon Architectes
As well as the Grand Palais, Chatillon Architectes undertook a restoration of the Grande Nef Lucien-Belloni.
Constructed in 1971 and designed by architects Pierre Chazanoff and Anatole Kopp in collaboration with engineer René Sarger, it had fallen into a state of dereliction despite its dramatic parabolic form.
Located near the Olympic Village, the building will not host competitions during Paris 2024 but will instead serve as a gymnastics training venue having been made more thermally efficient.
Events: none
Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue by EP Climbing
According to the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue is the only sports facility built specifically for the Olympics that will remain in place after the games apart from the Aquatics Centre.
Developed by climbing-wall manufacturer EP Climbing, it features four outdoor climbing walls and an indoor wall for warming up.
The indoor facilities will be retained after the games for use by the local community, while the Paris 2024 website states that the temporary climbing walls could be “redeployed once the events have been completed at sites that are to be determined”.
Events: climbing
Château de Versailles by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee
Home to the court of King Louis XIV in 1632, and the first French site to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1979, this historical landmark and national museum will welcome the games’ equestrian and modern pentathlon events.
A temporary outdoor arena flanked by several stands has been set up on the Etoile Royale esplanade to the west of the Grand Canal, at the centre of the palace’s gardens.
The arena will stage jumping and dressage competitions, with the cross-country section taking place alongside the Grand Canal. The Château de Versailles will also be organising the five modern pentathlon events.
Events: equestrian, modern pentathlon
Bercy Arena by Andrault-Parat, Jean Prouvé and Aydin Guvan
Now also known as the Accor Arena, this distinctive pyramidal structure in south-east Paris was designed by French architects Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat in collaboration with Jean Prouvé and Aydin Guvan.
Completed 40 years ago and renovated in 2015, it remains a frequently used venue for indoor sporting events and concerts and will host basketball, trampoline and artistic gymnastics competitions during Paris 2024.
Events: basketball, trampoline, gymnastics
Pont Alexandre III by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee
One of Paris’ best-known monuments, the Pont Alexandre III bridge spanning the Seine will provide the setting for the finish line of individually timed cycling events, the swimming marathon, triathlon and paratriathlon.
First inaugurated for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, the bridge measures 45 metres wide and 107 metres long. It is bounded by four large columns supporting golden bronze statues. Temporary stands set up near the bridge for the games will later be dismantled.
Events: cycling, swimming, triathlon, paratriathlon
Additional reporting by Jane Englefield and Nat Barker.
Olympic Impact
This article is part of Dezeen’s Olympic Impact series examining the sustainability measures taken by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and exploring whether major sporting events compatible with the climate challenge are possible.
