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The Predio Ferial Olímpico (Olympic Fairground) will be an exhibition and convention centre in the district of Villa Soldati, to the south of Buenos Aires, that will be the site of the Main Media Center (MMC) and will host several events during the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics: boxing, fencing, gymnastics (Artistics - Rhythmic - Trampoline), judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling, handball and badminton.
Originally there were two main sports zones as the primary sites of the Games in Buenos Aires 2018: the Green Corridor and Parque Roca, and the venue for all indoor sports was La Rural. But, in order to group the sports in a more compact framework, on September 2014 a new four-clusters concept was revealed. It was decided then the construction of a new exhibition and convention centre, located on the corner of Avenida Escalada and Avenida General Francisco Fernández de la Cruz, and next to the Youth Olympic Village (YOV), within the limits of the City Park. It will be located next to Premetro's Cecilia Grierson station, the Cecilia Grierson Hospital and the Ciudad del Rock (Rock City).
The Project
In November 2014, the Central Society of Architects of Argentina called for a nationwide contest of designs and ideas with technological definition for the Olympic Fairground. The results were revealed in March 2015 being the selected project and first prize of the contest the one presented by Maximiliano E. Alvarez with collaboration of Agustina Arias, Laura Zink, Agustín Donadío, César Lissarrague, Irina López Valiño, Rosario Revuelto and Pedro Natalizio; and Horacio Macchi and Claudio Marquet as advisors.
The Olympic Fairground will occupy a 70,000 m2 area, and after the Youth Olympic Games it will still be used as a new public cultural attraction in the Commune 8, which includes the neighborhoods of Villa Soldati, Villa Lugano and Villa Riachuelo, and has been targeted by the local Government in need of urban development.
The winning project is notable for its urban proposal, with an indoor park that links the six pieces of the exhibition centre, and its connection with the neighboring City Park from a square in the heart of the complex. It was praised the idea of attaching to each pavilion a strip of buildings in smaller scale, both outward and inward, for commercial premises and services. According to the author, these pieces, with its galleries and arcades, generate an intermediate stop that softens the urban impact of large containers. The proposal is also characterized by a sustainability criteria in building design and urban design strategies with bioclimatic design criteria, efficient management of energy and water, the use of low environmental impact construction materials, sustainable management of urban space: biodiversity conservation, thermal habitability, sustainable drainage systems, improving soil permeability and recycling.