The Olympic Games from the beginning represented an opportunity for peace and human relations. Sports competitions, in fact, had a high religious value and for this reason every war was interrupted during the period of these impromptive manifestations. After the final closure of the Hellenistic races in 393 A.D., the athletic competitions related to the ancient city of Olympia did not actually die at all. However, we have to wait until the end of the 19th century when Baron Pierre de Frédy Coubertin, a French pedagogue, proposed to re-establish the games with an international character and strongly aimed at fostering the rapprochement of the peoples. Coubertin was also the first promoter of the Olympic Villages. Here came the architecture for the Olympic Games.
This contribution aims to analyse the historical evolution of the cities that since the end of the 19th century have hosted the Olympic Games to the most contemporary events. An important isue is the urban aesthetics and how the projects for the Olympics have changed urban landscapes. The final reflections analyse the city of Tokyo, home of the 2020 Olympic Games.