This week marks 25 years since the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games – an event that reshaped the city through an ambitious masterplan developed by a team of built environment professionals, including architects Lawrence Nield and Philip Thalis. Lawrence, a founding director of BVN and the 2012 Gold Medallist, has contributed to three Olympic Games: Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Philip, founding principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects and the 2024 Gold Medallist, also played a significant role in the Sydney masterplan.

In today’s episode, they discuss the city-making potential of the Olympics, the planning and design thinking behind a successful games, and how the profession might shape the urban legacy of Brisbane 2032.

Further reading:

Olympics Update

Sydney’s Olympics

Lawrence Nield on deciphering the meaning of architecture and the role of the architect

Avoiding substance abuse

Built environment institutes call for design input over Brisbane 2032 Olympics

Don’t let this opportunity go to waste: A tale of two cities

Design review is the missing piece of the Olympics puzzle

Woolloongabba can win gold

Brisbane 2032: pathways to legacy

The complicated Olympics planning process

The Brisbane olympics: a marathon or a sprint?