IOC reveals new-look Session and Presentation rooms
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and the 14 IOC Executive Board Members got a sneak preview today of the new-look rooms for the Session and for the Presentation & Announcement for Candidate Cities. It comes on the eve of the 128th IOC Session this week in Kuala Lumpur which begins on Thursday night with the opening ceremony.
The open, circular design of the Session room is intended to encourage dialogue, debate and the exchange of views in accordance with the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement. The Session room is dismountable and will become the permanent ‘home’ of the IOC Session.
President Bach said: “The meeting room will travel from Session to Session and will become a regular image of the Members in a parliamentary setting. Both the Session room and the Presentation room will become part of our identity and instantly recognisable as the IOC at work in a spirit of discussion and dialogue.”
The Presentation & Announcement room will be adapted depending on the number of Candidate Cities taking part, but the concept itself is one that will be reused at each Session. The look and feel of the Presentation room was designed to better showcase the Candidate Cities as it quite literally puts them on centre stage.
“Election day for an Olympic Games Host City is about the Candidate Cities and the focus will be entirely on them. It is ‘their day’ and the setting shows our appreciation of them,” said President Bach. “At the same time, the new look of the Presentation & Announcement room is of a very high standard, one that reflects what the world expects from an Olympic Games Host.”
Both rooms will be unveiled to the public during live broadcasting and webcasting of the Session, which is taking place from 31 July to 3 August at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in the Malaysian capital.
The election of the host cities for the Olympic Winter Games 2022 and the Youth Olympic Winter Games 2020 will take place on 31 July following presentations from the two Candidate Cities in each contest. Tune in to Olympic.org to see if Almaty (Kazakhstan) or Beijing (China)* is elected host of the 2022 Games and whether Brasov (Romania) or Lausanne (Switzerland) ** walk away as host of the Youth Olympic Winter Games 2020.
* cities listed in the order of drawing of lots
** cities listed in alphabetical order