When athletes gather in the Olympic stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday for the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics, they will experience a quarter of the lifespan of the $60 million stadium.
The 35,000-seat pentagonal Olympic Stadium is an extreme example of pop-up architecture, a mega-event venue with a planned lifespan shorter than the career of an aerial snowboarder. The stadium will be used four times in all—for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Games and Paralympics. Then it’s slated to be torn down.
