Stadium lantern
Stadium lantern
Wrocław (PL) - It goes without saying that a football stadium has to fulfil more requirements than just keeping the ball rolling, not to mention one that concerns the 2012 european Football Championship. Designing a stadium is a tough job: the flocking of thousands of supporters to their seats must go smoothly; comfort, safety and capacity are essential and one doesn’t want to blunder aesthetics-wise. For Düsseldorf-based architects JSK, this extensive list of demands wasn’t exactly something new. Previously they have designed the Waldstadion in Frankfurt am Main and the multi-purpose complex O2-World Arena in Berlin. With the municipal stadium in Wrocław, they again produced a fine piece of stadium architecture.
In form, the stadium for euro 2012 resembles a (fold-in) Chinese lantern. Steel rings are placed around the entire body and are made visible through the semi-transparent covering of glass fibre mesh coated with teflon. During the day, its translucent skin appears light and sheer; at dusk, the arena variously changes its colour - from the national colours to the colours of local football teams.
The covering lends the building lightness and transparency to such an extent that the solid steel hoops look rather insubstantial and collapsible, even though they aren’t in the least. They are part of a massive steel structure that features open stands with public arenas and walkways on the outside - which is a bit unusual, for in most stadiums, public areas are incorporated compactly below the stands and the tiers are connected via external stairways. The large interior spaces of the stadium incorporate open stairs for access and offer a view of the illuminated underside of the stand structure. One could say that the steel construction is designed like the spokes of a bicycle wheel, holding all the forces at work within a lightweight and delicate-looking frame. (Kim Hoefnagels)
Facade, Light, Metal |
Poland
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