London 2012 Olympic venues: Designed to be practical

Unlike the spectacle that greeted the world at the Beijing 2008 Games, venues in Britain are a compromise between grandiose and functional.

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Olympic Stadium in London's Olympic Park is the centerpiece of the Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies as well as sporting events. Its above-ground form means the structure can adapt from 25,000 seats to 80,000.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Adjacent to the Aquatics Centre is the ArcelorMittal Orbit, a 375-foot sculpture intended to be the London Games icon.

Julian Finney / Getty Images

Compared with the Beijing Games, which spent $67 billion on venues that are mostly unused now, Britain invested $14.4 billion in its Olympic structures.

Stanley Chou / Getty Images

Olympic parklands, featuring ridged landscapes designed by San Francisco architect Hargreaves Associates and more than three miles of waterways, will be part of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2013.

Anthony Charlton / Olympic Delivery Authority via Bloomberg News

An undated photo shows the Lea Navigation Canal, over which additional bridges have been built from Fish Island, right, to the Games site.

James S. Russell / Bloomberg News

The Athletes Village is intended to help revitalize London's Leyton neighborhood, where new streets connect residents to amenities.

James S. Russell / Bloomberg News

The Stratford International Station, which cost more than $300 million, is a gateway for regional rail lines. Transit improvements make the station better connected than any other part of greater London outside the center.

James S. Russell / Bloomberg News

The velodrome, which contains 6,000 seats and is designed for cycling events, will not be remodeled after the Games.

Paul Gilham / Getty Images

Glass of a nearby building shows a reflection of the velodrome, designed by San Francisco-based landscape architect George Hargreaves.

Ben Stansall / AFP/Getty Images

Bat-wing tiers have been added to the 2,500-seat Aquatics Centre to accommodate an additional 15,000 people during the Games.

Stanley Chou / Getty Images

The Aquatics Centre was designed by London architect Zaha Hadid.

Julian Finney / Getty Images

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