All 22 pieces
Every piece on the site, in the order a games happens. No dropdowns, no search — the whole arc on one page.
4 pieces · Section index
What a city is actually committing to when it raises its hand — the mechanics of a Universiade bid and why some cities want one.
- Not the Olympics, Not Quite Not the OlympicsThe Universiade is a multi-sport games held every two years, alternating between summer and winter editions.Bid · 3 min read
- The Reasons a City Raises Its HandBid documents speak the language of sport.Bid · 7 min read
- What a Bid Document PromisesThe dossier that wins a Universiade is a detailed document.Bid · 4 min read
- The Gap Between FISU and the IOCTwo governing bodies, two different instruments of power — and the distance between them explains a great deal about what hosting a Universiade actually involves.Bid · 3 min read
4 pieces · Section index
The construction and conversion problem — what has to be built, what can be borrowed, and what the timetable does to both.
- Counting the VenuesThe number is always larger than you expectBuild · 4 min read
- What Gets Torn Down and What StaysEvery multi-sport games is a construction project inside a construction project — and the line between permanent and temporary determines what the host city lives with for the next fifty years.Build · 4 min read
- The Village as Infrastructure ProblemThe Temporary City That Cannot Be TemporaryBuild · 3 min read
- When the Calendar Drives the CraneA fixed opening ceremony date reshapes games construction, from procurement to quality decisions to contractor behaviour after completion.Build · 3 min read
5 pieces · Section index
The operational period — how fourteen days of competition are staffed, sequenced and held together.
- The Compromise at the Centre of ItWhat the Universiade's student-athlete category asks of the people inside it — and why the tension is structural, not accidental.The Fortnight · 8 min read
- Which Sports Get In and Which Don'tThe sport programme of a Universiade is not left to chance — or entirely to the host.The Fortnight · 3 min read
- The People the Broadcast Never ShowsThe television feed is a narrow cut.The Fortnight · 4 min read
- Moving Ten Thousand People Between VenuesThe Fleet Nobody Sees ComingThe Fortnight · 4 min read
- The Card Around Your NeckThe lanyard is not a souvenir.The Fortnight · 3 min read
4 pieces · Section index
The moment the games end and the city takes the keys — what handback actually involves and why it is harder than the opening ceremony.
- Returning the Borrowed CityThe unglamorous fortnight that ends every Universiade, and why it is harder than it looks: handing borrowed venues back to their owners.Handback · 4 min read
- What Happens to the PeopleThe Organisation That DissolvesHandback · 3 min read
- The Paperwork Nobody PhotographsThe quiet mechanics of closing down a gamesHandback · 3 min read
- From Athlete Beds to Residential HomesThe village that has to become something elseHandback · 3 min read
5 pieces · Section index
What venues, infrastructure and the host city become after the Universiade — the gap between legacy promises and what actually happens.
- The Venues That Made ItWhat Second Life Actually RequiresAfterlife · 4 min read
- Who Owns the Aquatics Centre NowThe Transfer Nobody TelevisesAfterlife · 3 min read
- Gwangju, Some Years LaterWhat a city is left with after the athletes go home — and what it chooses to do with it.Afterlife · 7 min read
- Legacy Is a Promise Made Before the Ground Is BrokenThe commitment to lasting benefit is written into every bid document.Afterlife · 3 min read
- The Argument for Doing This at AllThe Universiade has real costs and uncertain returns.Afterlife · 4 min read