In addition to increasing design and construction costs, due to the rising cost of building in Tokyo, further delays and a rushed design process, led by a construction contractor, risk producing a lower standard National Stadium with limited future usage. In a separate post, his studio also said “There is a striking resemblance between the two logos”.
Advertisement
“Even the typography is the same”.
Debie said no legal action was contemplated at this time, but he did say he wanted to hear what impression the designer of the Olympics emblem had about the theater logo.
It looks “like a turtle waiting for Japan to sink so that it can swim away” was the withering criticism by one of Japan’s most eminent architects, 83 year old Isozaki Arata, of the work of London-based, Iraqi-born architect Zara Hadid.
“Between July 2013 and July 2015, Tokyo construction costs increased by an average of 25% and are forecast to increase at a similar rate for the next four years”, it added.
Tokyo Olympic organisers on Thursday defended the design.
Boston was picked by the United States Olympic Committee to be the country’s candidate for the 2024 Games but USOC rescinded its bid in a spectacular U-turn on Monday after the city’s mayor said taxpayers could not afford to host the event.
“I think people are trying to over-interpret the emblem and it shouldn’t be viewed in comparison to past logos, as each Games represents a new era and hence a new aesthetic”.
Masanori Takaya, publicity chief of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, said: “We announced the emblem after going through the worldwide trademark registration process”.
Earlier, Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga declined to make a formal comment, insisting officials had exercised due diligence prior to unveiling the logo last week.
He also said he had been reassured that the extension of the underground metro system to the Olympic Park in Barra, the main transportation project connected to the Games, would be ready in time. They were designed by Japanese artist Kenjiro Sato. He said he thought there was a similarity after a friend pointed it out to him. Not so coincidentally, Kimito Kubo, the director-general of the Sports and Youth Bureau, resigned yesterday in the wake of public pressure and social media statements from other government officials demanding someone be held responsible. Through these streamlining efforts, the government intends to decrease the total construction costs from the current 252 billion yen (US$2 billion) to the mid 100 billion yen ($809 million) level.
On Twitter, Debie questioned whether Tokyo officials had been guilty of plagiarism by posting a side-by-side comparison of the Tokyo and Liege logos, tweeting: “Theatre Liege vs Tokyo 2020…”
Advertisement
As if there wasn’t already enough debate about the execution of the logo design itself, now there are rumors that the design could possibly be a plagiarization of the work of French designer Oliver Debie.
