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As the XXXIII Olympic Games approach in Paris, the city is preparing to host a global sporting event and embark on a journey of urban renewal. Moving away from the traditional stadium-centric celebration, Paris 2024 takes a new approach to the Olympic experience. Sports architecture has the ability to transcend functionality and become a space of collective experience and shared joy. In that sense, it invites people from diverse backgrounds to forge connections while celebrating athletics. This month’s curated collection focuses on various forms of sports architecture, stadiums, venues and landscaping projects, analyzing which components come together to form different sports architecture experiences.
For the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Foster + Partners designed the iconic and more traditional Lusail Stadium. In India, M:OFA Studios designed the National Institute of Aquatics Sports, breaking with the pragmatic norms of government institutions. In Hangzhou, China, the 2022 Asian Games featured a new AZUT cricket pitch, which emerged as an integration of sports infrastructure with the natural landscape. Meanwhile, in Order City, China, PLAT ASIA transformed an existing urban plaza into a smart sports park, promoting community well-being and interaction. Finally, the University of Idaho Arena by Opsis Architecture serves as the primary gateway to the university campus, celebrating the spirit of athletics and community.
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Continue reading to discover five diverse sports architecture projects, along with a description of the architects.
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Lusail, Qatar
The basis of the design forms an in-depth analysis of the brief and the client’s requirements, together with an appreciation of Qatar’s climatic and cultural heritage. The stadium is expressed externally as a burnished golden vessel that shines against the sunlight. The façade features triangular openings that visually reinforce the structural grid and form a perforated screen to provide shade and filter dappled light into the internal lobbies. High-performance facades and an innovative roof design reduce the stadium’s energy consumption. Additionally, exterior cooling technologies are used to maximize comfort within the open-air stadium. The project has achieved a five-star rating according to the Global Sustainability Assessment System.
Panjim, India
Government institutions in India typically follow a pragmatic and tactful approach when it comes to the expression of their architecture. When the Goa state government launched an international competition for the design of the National Institute of Aquatic Sports in Goa, it wanted the institute to do two things: firstly, make a bold and iconic statement with an expression that addresses architecture. beyond functional pragmatism and secondly, adopt a new approach to the typical Goan architectural environment, a language that is more global yet rooted while resonating the vernacular, through the use of local materials.
Hangzhou, China
The Asian Games cricket field at the Pingfeng campus of Zhejiang University of Technology is located on a 49,400-square-meter plot of land on the west side of the original athletics area. It is situated at the foot of Ziwu Tide Mountain in the Ziwu Tide National Forest Park, adjacent to the school library, with the old Yunhe Canal Road to the south and the Shangbu River Road to the north. The new facility has a total buildable area of 12,689 square meters distributed over three floors above ground.
Ordos City, China
PLAT ASIA is designated to renovate an urban plaza, “SHIJIE” in Kangbashi District, Ordos, China, and convert it into a smart sports park suitable for all people to meet the need of the growing pursuit of a healthy lifestyle in the public space. The original square is surrounded by the resident area, office building, school and exhibition center, with a critical position and convenient transportation.
Moscow, United States
Inspired by the undulating landscape shapes of the Palouse region, shaped by the catastrophic Missoula floods at the end of the Ice Age, the 4,000-seat Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) multi-purpose stadium was designed as a spectacular gate to entrance to the University of Idaho campus. It serves as the home of the University’s basketball program and a gathering place for a variety of activities including sporting events, concerts, convocations and campus programs.
This article is part of a series curated by ArchDaily that focuses on built projects from our library grouped into specific themes related to cities, typologies, materials, or programs. Each month, we will highlight a collection of structures that find a common thread between previously uncommon contexts, revealing the depth of influence on our built environments. As always, at ArchDaily we greatly value the contributions of our readers. If you think we should mention specific ideas, please send us your suggestions.
