London’s 2012 Olympic Park Opens to the Public this Week After Years of Preparation

After six years of planning, preparation and construction, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/london-olympics/">London's Olympic Park</a> is almost ready to host its first non-athlete visitors. The £7 billion Olympic Park contains several of the 2012 Games' biggest sporting venues, including the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/london-2012-the-greenest-olympic-games-in-history/london-olympic-stadium/">Olympic Stadium</a> and the Zaha Hadid-designed <a href="http://inhabitat.com/the-top-6-green-buildings-at-the-2012-london-olympics/london-aquatics-center/?extend=1">Aquatics Centre</a>, as well as the Olympic Village. And towering over the Olympic Park is Anish Kapoor's controversial <a href="http://inhabitat.com/anish-kapoors-recycled-steel-arcelormittal-orbit-tower-now-complete-in-london/">ArcelorMittal Orbit observation tower</a>, which is made from recycled steel and has received mixed reviews from observers. On Friday, the Opening Ceremony will mark the start of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/2012-olympics/">2012 Summer Olympics</a>, and visitors will get their first look at the Olympic Park.

Hosting the Olympics is a massive undertaking for the host city. In 2006, London demolished more than 200 buildings to make room for what would eventually become the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/6-ways-in-which-london-2012-has-failed-to-be-the-green-olympics/london-emissions/?extend=1">Olympic Park</a>.

When those buildings were demolished, an impressive 98 percent of the materials were reused and recycled in the construction of the Olympic Park and elsewhere.

The Olympic Park was built on former industrial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownfield_land">brownfields</a>, which had to be cleaned up before the games.

"We're now in the last of the call rooms," London 2012 chairman <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=157272405">Sebastian Coe told the AP</a>. "We've gone from the training track to the warmup track to the stadium. The volunteers are in place. The city is dressed. The torch is on its way."

Anish Kapoor's ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower in the London Olympic Park is a sculpture made largely of recycled steel.

The Zaha Hadid-designed London Aquatics Centre contains two 160-foot swimming pools.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower.

The wetlands around the Velodrome make up the Olympic Park. You can explore and enjoy the green space before entering the stadium.

'RUN' was created by internationally-renowned artist Monica Bonvicini. It is the largest standalone work of art on the grounds of the Olympic Park.

Groove out on the dance floor and generate your own electricity in EDF's play zone 'The Magic of Electricity'.

Lush and green artwork by Carsten Nicolai sited at the north of the Olympic Park.

Coca-Cola Beatbox fuses the passions of sport and music, highlighting an anthem created especially for Coca-Cola by GRAMMY award-winning producer Mark Ronson. Visitors can literally 'play' the Coca-Cola Beatbox like a musical instrument.

BMW Group Pavilion designed by British architecture firm Serie, is located on an elevated platform over the Waterworks River, between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre. The two-story superstructure is built of steel with high recycled content, and uses less carbon-intensive materials such as concrete.