Stunning stadiums of the world
The sporting arena is the modern equivalent of a monument, the Holy Grail of an architect’s fantasy. The brief is simple: Make a spellbinding container for the sportsperson’s soaring ambition. These beauties, for instance
Curated By: Madhu Kapparath
Japan, ¯Oita ¯Oita Bank Dome
This multipurpose stadium has a retractable dome roof, a truly incredible piece of engineering that took dome-building to a whole new level. The brainchild of the famed Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, the roof resembles, when opening and closing, the winking of a human eye, hence the nickname ‘Big Eye’. The complexity of the system entails that, to move so much weight and with incredible precision, each rib—featuring thick steel wires that are tied to the roof—has a different curve ratio from the others, and each wire, a different load
This multipurpose stadium has a retractable dome roof, a truly incredible piece of engineering that took dome-building to a whole new level. The brainchild of the famed Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, the roof resembles, when opening and closing, the winking of a human eye, hence the nickname ‘Big Eye’. The complexity of the system entails that, to move so much weight and with incredible precision, each rib—featuring thick steel wires that are tied to the roof—has a different curve ratio from the others, and each wire, a different load
