The Future of Stadiums Might Be No Stadium at All

[M II A II R II K]

The Future of Stadiums Might Be No Stadium at All


11.18.15.

By JEFF BECKHAM

Read More: http://www.wired.com/2015/11/the-fut...tadium-at-all/

.....

The building of NFL stadiums has become an arms race, but architect Dan Meis is calling for a de-escalation. Maybe, he says, the future of stadiums means less is more.

- The primary concern, he says, is economics. Major stadium projects today start at a billion dollars and go up from there, and taxpayers typically foot the bill for much of that. To make things worse, some venues may not be around more than 20 to 30 years. Atlanta is scheduled to open a new $1.4 billion stadium in 2017, even though the Falcons’ current home, the Georgia Dome, debuted in 1992.

- Unless owners can find extra big-time events to host, a stadium may only be used 20 or so times per year. At 20 events a year over 30 years, that’s $1.6 million per event at a billion-dollar venue. “We keep falling over ourselves about what’s the next big board? What’s the next thing you’re going to put in stadiums?” said Meis.

- That pop-up stadium concept works better for events like the Olympics or World Cup, which come around every four years and may be hosted by countries without the means to fill those stadiums once the event is over. But another Meis concept — a building that changes, Optimus Prime-style, from a 20,000-seat basketball arena to a 35,000-seat soccer stadium — could provide a solution.

- It sounds futuristic, but the transformable stadium has been a reality for more than a decade in Japan. Meis’ design for the Saitama Super Arena allows for a gigantic section of seats — along with all the plumbing and mechanical connections beneath them in the concourse — to rise up, slide back some 70 meters and plug back in with the smoothness and accuracy of a Swiss watch.

- Meis said he hopes today’s stadium architects design buildings with an eye beyond a 30-year life span. He got a daily reminder of that over the past couple of years as he designed Stadio della Roma, the new home of the A.S. Roma soccer club scheduled to open in 2016.

- Meis’ trip to work every day took him past the Colosseum, still standing strong after 2,000 years and enjoying a new life as a tourist attraction. --- “That’s one thing in this country you don’t see anywhere else, that we’re replacing venues that are 20 years old because they’re obsolete,” Meis said. “That building is a reminder.”

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An external view of the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.






• Video Link

[Wayward Memphian]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

The Future of Stadiums Might Be No Stadium at All


11.18.15.

By JEFF BECKHAM

Read More: http://www.wired.com/2015/11/the-fut...tadium-at-all/





An external view of the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.






• Video Link

I like the idea of the super stadium, but that design wouldn't fly for American football in the States. As the middle of the field seats are the most desired and that really prohibits it unless the design was tweeked to provide much more seating there.

Let's take Memphis TN. It has an outdated outdoor stadium in the Liberty Bowl. It has great sightlines but due to it's era lacks ADA compliance and what little value added seating (suites and Club) it has towers above the field. The stadium effectively has about 10 events a year. With the vast majority being University of Memphis football. The 65,000 seat capacity is at least 10,000 more than needed since the city's NFL aspirations has died. The only event that needs that space is the Liberty Bowl. So that helps devalue the price the University of Memphis can charge for it's games due to supply and demand and it lacks the luxury seats to help make up the shortfall.

Memphis has a perfectly fine NBA arena in the FedEx forum. But it needs a new football first facility. What it doesn't need is some 80,000 seat monster like ATT in Aring ton or the new stadium in Atlanta. What it does need is a stadium in the 54,000 to 62,000 seat range that cane better accommodate other events. What it needs is a place that can transfer into a great large scale basketball venue to be able to host the later rounds of the NCAA tournament, have a great layout for stadium sized concert tours have an upper deck that can be partitioned off to effectively hide unused seats for smaller events and have an abundance of premium searing. Other events that could make use of the facility are other kind of events like Monster trucks, motocross, pay per view events like Wrestlemania, and if build in conjuction with a new convention center, exhibit floor space.

That all leads me to one of the designs tossed out for a new stadium in Vegas and UNLV. It has has all that flexibility with all the other massive bling folks want.

The Soccer layout shows off hiding the upper seating effectively and using it as projection purposes

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

The Future of Stadiums Might Be No Stadium at All

See here, this is where I think Meis is wrong. Stadium obsolescence is clearly not what is driving e.g. the Falcons' move from the Georgia Dome (which, if you take the roof and half the seats away, will be a damn fine stadium for Georgia State) ... The real problem is the way that team owners can play local politics and get new stadiums built on the taxpayers' dime.

The only stadia that truly became obsolete IMO were those 1960s' multi-use monstrosities.

[Guiltyspark]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

See here, this is where I think Meis is wrong. Stadium obsolescence is clearly not what is driving e.g. the Falcons' move from the Georgia Dome (which, if you take the roof and half the seats away, will be a damn fine stadium for Georgia State) ... The real problem is the way that team owners can play local politics and get new stadiums built on the taxpayers' dime.

The only stadia that truly became obsolete IMO were those 1960s' multi-use monstrosities.

I agree. Multi use abominations are the worst. Also, I don't see this proposal really saving money. Plus, lots of sporting events happen on the same night.

[mrnyc]

yeah well we'll see...

[arkitekte]

Originally Posted by Wayward Memphian

I like the idea of the super stadium, but that design wouldn't fly for American football in the States. As the middle of the field seats are the most desired and that really prohibits it unless the design was tweeked to provide much more seating there.

Let's take Memphis TN. It has an outdated outdoor stadium in the Liberty Bowl. It has great sightlines but due to it's era lacks ADA compliance and what little value added seating (suites and Club) it has towers above the field. The stadium effectively has about 10 events a year. With the vast majority being University of Memphis football. The 65,000 seat capacity is at least 10,000 more than needed since the city's NFL aspirations has died. The only event that needs that space is the Liberty Bowl. So that helps devalue the price the University of Memphis can charge for it's games due to supply and demand and it lacks the luxury seats to help make up the shortfall.

Memphis has a perfectly fine NBA arena in the FedEx forum. But it needs a new football first facility. What it doesn't need is some 80,000 seat monster like ATT in Aring ton or the new stadium in Atlanta. What it does need is a stadium in the 54,000 to 62,000 seat range that cane better accommodate other events. What it needs is a place that can transfer into a great large scale basketball venue to be able to host the later rounds of the NCAA tournament, have a great layout for stadium sized concert tours have an upper deck that can be partitioned off to effectively hide unused seats for smaller events and have an abundance of premium searing. Other events that could make use of the facility are other kind of events like Monster trucks, motocross, pay per view events like Wrestlemania, and if build in conjuction with a new convention center, exhibit floor space.

That all leads me to one of the designs tossed out for a new stadium in Vegas and UNLV. It has has all that flexibility with all the other massive bling folks want.

The Soccer layout shows off hiding the upper seating effectively and using it as projection purposes

Are you purposefully bending facts to fit your agenda again?

Things that are in bold are nonfactual or conflict each other (ie non-ADA compliance with 65,000 seats). There's well below 65,5000 seats and that number has dropped throughout the past 5 or so years in order to comply with ADA regulations. Think more around 61,500.

Memphis doesn't need a domed stadium. Memphis can't afford a domed stadium.

[Owlhorn]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

See here, this is where I think Meis is wrong. Stadium obsolescence is clearly not what is driving e.g. the Falcons' move from the Georgia Dome (which, if you take the roof and half the seats away, will be a damn fine stadium for Georgia State) ... The real problem is the way that team owners can play local politics and get new stadiums built on the taxpayers' dime.

The only stadia that truly became obsolete IMO were those 1960s' multi-use monstrosities.

The driver to move to a new stadium was to be in a stadium that the Falcons owned more of, therefore taking home far more revenue than they could from the Georgia Dome. The NFL does not regulate PSL, club and suite revenue, so the more you can fill, the better.

[Jasoncw]

I think the next few thousand years of stadiums will be a lot like the last few thousand years of stadiums...