Pharrell Williams, the men’s creative director for Louis Vuitton, shared his desire to revive the arts competition at the Olympics, which has been absent since 1978. Pierre de Coubertin introduced the games, which originally included competitions in architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture.
This inclusion of art in the games was removed from the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and was replaced with non-competitive art exhibitions. Pharrell raised this idea of merging arts and sports at the recent star-studded Louis Vuitton event in Paris.
The architecture category particularly highlighted the role of built spaces in sports. Architects who designed such sports facilities were able to showcase their work on a global stage. Architects like Werner March, Jan Wils, Richard Konwiarz were Olympic medalists who went on to define modern architecture in the future.
In the later years architects like Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, Herzog & de Meuron continued to shape the evolution of stadium design while supporting the Olympic games.
The singer and fashion designer shared his point of view in regards to bringing the arts back to the games, “We get to remind people that at one point, the Olympics actually had the arts as a section that ran all these competitions. Sculpture, architecture, visual arts. The idea we get to put the arts back in… Why not take this moment to bring awareness?”
As the world recently celebrated the 2024 Paris Olympics where the themes of sustainability and renovation were explored, the possibility to reintroduce the arts could bring a new dimension to the games, continuing the legacy of the games that was envisioned a century ago.
