Olympiastadion - Berlin

by Matthew Wilkinson

remash:

olympic tennis center - madrid | stair ~ dominque perrault

Stadiums as Cultural Icons by Brian Basner

I would like to introduce you to two of my new favorite tumblrs of all time: Stadium Porn and Stadium Love. Quite simply, they take you on a glorious visual journey of different stadia from around the world, sometimes in varying degrees of construction. I tell you the truth when I say I have spent several hours at a time looking through both of these tumblrs, often imagining what it’d be like in person or what I’d do with it if I could.  

It’s also given me a new thesis: Stadiums are as important to the culture and history of a people as, say, Independence Hall or the US Capitol building.  

Think of how many people that care about the halftime score at the Champions League Final in Munich this past weekend. Or the millions of Americans who watched the Super Bowl this past winter and those last two minutes of the game. Now compare that to the number of people who care about the poll numbers for the 2012 presidential race. Or Senate race. Or their Congressional district race. Admittedly based on instinct, I would guess that more people care about football scores than poll numbers. Read More

Photo of Beijing’s Olympic Green by Helen Sotiriadis

Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa.

by Chothia

procrete:

North Carolina State Fair Livestock Judging Pavilion, Raleigh, North Carolina (circa 1954).

Designed by William Henry Deitrick and J. C. Knight & Associates, this pavilion was completed in 1952. The form was originally conceived by Matthew Nowicki in 1949, however Nowicki was killed in a plane crash in Egypt in 1950 and Deitrick took over the project, carrying forward Nowicki’s vision.

The building was an engineering marvel at the time, being the first example of a cable-supported roof in the world at the time. It is now the Dorton Arena, and became the first stadium designed with a column-free interior.

New renderings released by AEG of its proposed Downtown NFL stadium (aka Farmers Field) and Convention Center project on Facebook.

Structure by F1Daniel

A view of the awing over Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

Olympic Velodrome in Athens

Photo by Dimakk

Masterpiece by Craig Maccubbin

The Bird’s Nest, site of the 2008 Summer Olympics

I didn’t like it at first, but over time I’ve come to appreciate the classic urban design and the thought that went into Lucas Oil Stadium. Unlike other cities, Indianapolis is as much a basketball town as a football one, and Lucas Oil was built with that in mind. Eric Angevine of Bus Leagues Baseball spoke with Mike Williams, Design Principal on Lucas Oil Stadium for HKS Architects, about what makes it unique to Indy, and how it’s changing large stadium design for the better.

Though it’s not as tall as the other buildings in downtown, Lucas Oil still seems to dominate the skyline. Was that a concern? Would you rather it blend in more?

We think, and I hope others agree, that it’s a great thing for Indianapolis. The number of people who come into town from the airport, across (interstate) 70, and all the vehicles that run across that major interstate, we think it’s really great that Lucas Oil is a prominent feature as you approach downtown.

The roof and the windows would seem to be two of the biggest design and building challenges for Lucas Oil. How did those come together finally?

You always see the blimp shot – the aerial shot – and it’s usually, right out of the box, one of the first images people see. We want people to be able to look at this building and immediately know, from the first shot, that this is Lucas Oil Stadium.  We don’t want them to have to wait until they see a picture of Peyton Manning, we want the building to be as strong a brand as the horseshoe on the side of the helmet. 

The windows opening was a similar type of gesture. But that also was coupled with where we started, which was that we cranked the building on an angle and pointed it back toward Monument Circle downtown. Lucas Oil respects the old city plan and city layout. That’s why we positioned the building to look back at Monument Circle because if the building was built when the city was first laid out, that’s what would have happened. 

Stadiums are becoming very identifiable public structures. Like you say, they help define the cities they’re built in. Is that something you really have to think about when you’re designing?

We try to discover the DNA of the Indianapolis Colts, the city of Indianapolis, the state of Indiana and what sports means to them. We worked with the NCAA to figure out the Final Four setup is done. If you look at pre-Lucas Oil venues, the court is running the short way across the football field, there are black curtains everywhere, and you’re only using about 70% of the venue. We looked at that and thought we could do it better. We use the whole space, we have optimal sight lines for everybody, there’s no curtains blocking off the councourses throughout the bowl.  The NCAA is 100% behind this now.

Photo by Colin Roney

Olympiastadion - Berlin

by Phototouring

Football in Chicago by Kristian Charnick

Soldier Field: Home of the Chicago Bears

Dodger Stadium: “The Next 50 Years”

Pictured above are photos of a beautiful model depicting future renovations to Dodger Stadium. Renovations unveiled years ago. Some parts have been enacted, while most of the master plan waits in peril. Granted, the Los Angeles Dodgers have had other more immediate concerns of late, like finding new ownership. But when that issue is resolved, lets hope this dream comes true.

jlmurtaugh:

“Stadiums, in the 21st century, are changing their image and their value as icons, presenting themselves with a new identity, in which their function as stadiums in the strictest sense is associated to use as offices, housing, hotels, green areas, playgrounds, restaurants, swimming pools, car parks.

Novel uses for a place that is thus conceived as a facility visited by families, youngsters and people from all walks of life, not just by supporters and sports fans.

The organic forms of the stadium which define and enclose the pitch, connect with the outline of the coast, seeking an opening towards the sea and creating an easily recognisable landmark from above.”

Peter Eisenman’s Deportivo Stadium/Nuevo Riazor proposal (La Coruña ES), 2004.

More on Eisenman, the University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Arizona US), and stadium trends of the last decade.

Archway by Thomas Ackroyd

Wembley Stadium in London England.