Photography: Caioviniciuscosta
Britain has set up base inside a 19th-century mansion in the leafy grounds of Parque Lage at the foot of Christ the Redeemer. The park has a long-running history with Great Britain, with English landscape architect John Thyndale originally planting the gardens back in 1840. For the British House, event specialist Innovision has eschewed British design clichés for a space that celebrates contemporary art and furniture design.
Christian de Portzamparc
The host nation of the 2020 Olympics has set up base inside the Cidade das Artes, a 2013 concrete arts complex designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc. Its national house offers a dose of Japanese culture -- from traditional tea ceremonies to folk entertainment -- as well as a preview of things to come in four years' time.
Photography: via Casa Brasil
Brazil's Casa Brasil is set on Pier Mauá, part of Rio's redeveloped Olympic Boulevard in a former industrial port. The national house takes over two warehouses, leading visitors on a virtual journey through Brazil's geography, history and culture.
VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Museum of Tomorrow is a standout architectural monument in Rio's harbor zone, revitalized as part of the city's Olympic preparations. But how is the rest of the Olympic Park shaping up?
Photography: Jose Manuel
Portugal's base is more of a houseboat than a house -- specifically the Sagres, a Portuguese naval ship built in 1937. It set off from Lisbon back in June and will be moored at the quays of the Ilha das Cobras in Rio for the duration of the Olympics.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Aerial view of the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 13, 2016.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Inside one of the halls of the new Olympic Training Center on the Barra park. This one will host judo and wrestling during the Rio Olympics.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
The Olympic Training Center's halls, in common with other Olympic Park venues, have been designed to a modular blueprint -- meaning some venues can be moved away from the park entirely when the Games conclude, while others can be transformed into different facilities.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A general view of inside the Future Arena at the Olympic Park which will host handball matches during the Summer Games in Rio.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Handball will take place on Rio's Barra Olympic Park alongside the likes of tennis, track cycling, fencing, judo and swimming.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
Experts suggest Rio's Olympic Park venues will be functional, if not spectacular. The Aquatics Stadium is described by its own architects as "basically a glass box."
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images South America/Getty Images
While Rio hasn't had too many problems with late venues, the velodrome was one of them. Track cycling's Olympic venue was finally handed over at the end of last week.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Remember the Olympic Lanes from past Games, to help accredited guests and workers get around quickly? In Rio, they're back.
TASSO MARCELO/AFP/Getty Images
Transport has been one of Rio's biggest problems. This new subway line to the main Olympic Park in the Barra neighborhood is still under construction as the days tick down.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
"The transport system in Barra is definitely a plus," says local architect Barbara Iseli of other Olympics-inspired upgrades to services like the bus network.
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New transport links, new homes and new business districts mean revitalization projects inspired by Rio 2016 will "create neighborhoods in the city" -- according to Bill Hanway of AECOM, the company responsible for the Olympic Park's masterplan.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava designed the Museum of Tomorrow, which was opened in December last year.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Local architects say the Museum of Tomorrow is the jewel of Rio's newly redeveloped Porto Maravilha -- and is a more eye-catching design than any new venues the 2016 Olympics have to offer.
VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The late Oscar Niemeyer, one of the world's great architects, was born in Rio. His Museum of Contemporary Art (center) is one of Rio state's best-known landmarks, lying across the bay from the city center.
Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Niemeyer's museum design has been likened to a flying saucer. The building was completed in 1996, 16 years before the architect's death.
Alexandre Loureiro/Getty Images South America/Getty Images
This is Rio 2016's main press center, or MPC, where thousands of journalists will gather while reporting on the Games.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Spaces, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work.

CNN  — 

New stadiums might be stealing the architectural glory at the Rio Olympics, but the national hospitality houses are giving them a run for their money.

More than 30 nations have set up camp around Rio de Janeiro in sites that range from a 19th century mansion to a new beachside pavilion and a boat.

A house is being built inside a cliff, thanks to the internet

For many of these ad-hoc HQs – which serve as visitor centers for officials, sportspeople, VIPs and even the public – top designers and architects have been enlisted to provide a taste of their home nation within Brazilian surrounds.

Olympians lamenting the conditions of the athletes’ village might want to decamp to these. See highlights in the gallery above.

Check out The Spaces for more nations’ hospitality houses and other innovative architecture projects from around the world.