Making the Future with LA28: A Conversation with LA28 Chairperson and President, Casey Wasserman
Los Angeles has been the host city for the Olympic Games twice before—first in 1932, and again in 1984. And like other host cities, it built stadiums, pools, and other infrastructure for the purpose—whether that was the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium (later named LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium) for the first Games, or the Olympic Swim Stadium for the Olympic Games in 1984.
LA will once again be the host city for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028—but this time, it will be taking a different approach. Instead of building new venues, it will be renovating or repurposing existing ones.
Autodesk is the Official Design & Make Platform for LA28 and Team USA and, over the next four years, LA28 will use Autodesk software to help retrofit the 40+ competition and major non-competition venues across Southern California that will make up the LA28 Games’ footprint. LA28 will also use Autodesk software to aid in the design of key Games-related transportation elements and traffic control plans and building transit systems across the LA metro area to support the more than 10 million people that will be attending the games.
On the main stage at AU 2024, Autodesk President and CEO Andrew Anagnost sat down with Casey Wasserman, Chairperson and President of LA28, for a conversation about how they plan to get it all done—the goals behind this approach, the opportunities that it creates, and the challenges it presents.
“The Olympic and Paralympic Games in LA will be the largest peacetime gathering in the history of the world,” Wasserman said. “And when you have the largest event on earth coming to one of the most important cities in the world, it can be a great motivating factor. We think especially in things like sustainability: how do we convert buildings to be low energy buildings? How do we get all the facilities we're using to convert?”
"Many of these venues will be in use right up until they need to be converted," Wasserman pointed out. "The Opening Ceremony is July 14th, so we [may] have to flip that from a basketball or a hockey venue to a gymnastics venue.”
“We are going to compress essentially 95% of our delivery—about 85% of our expenses—in the last 18 months,” Wasserman said.
It's an ambitious—and worthwhile—goal. And Wasserman is counting in days, not years, till it’s here. “If we can leave an impact that lasts for 20 years because of those 17 days, that's a powerful impact in terms of sustainability,” Wasserman said. “Autodesk is exactly the kind of partner we need to execute our vision of how to do this differently.”
“If you look at the history of LA and the history of the Olympics—in 1932, I think most people didn't know LA was a city. That kind of put LA on the American map,” Wasserman pointed out. “I think ‘84 elevated LA to be a global city. And I think 2028 cements LA as one of the three great cities in the world that really define the future.”
Learn more and stay up to date about Autodesk’s partnership with LA28 here.
