Why Can't American Stadiums Be Beautiful?

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by mousquet

^ I can't tell whether any serious acoustics study was ever made on the topic, but some of the PA fan excitement might get lost to the sky in that stadium. That'd be too bad, right?

And of course the size of it helps. We don't have any that large in France where the largest is the Stade de France with some 80k seats. It's in greater Paris, but intended to host the games of the national rugby and soccer teams exclusively. No local team is supposed to play in there.

The largest arena in Europe is the "Nou Camp" of Barcelona. It's home to the FC Barcelona, one of the greatest soccer club ever.

Well given that sound expands *tries to remember fancy Greek word for it* *defaults to Death Cab lyric instead* in all directions at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised. But the primary acoustic function IMO is in the bowl shape, that is, that the bowl itself plays the greatest role in concentrating crowd noise.

IIRC Beaver Stadium is one of the largest stadiums in the world. It's easily the largest in the state -- neither Heinz Field or the Lincoln Financial Center (where our pro teams play) are larger.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Well given that sound expands *tries to remember fancy Greek word for it* *defaults to Death Cab lyric instead* in all directions at the same time

Hammer, I can hardly understand what you're saying while I can read English to some extent... You're a mod here, and I owe you respect cause they taught me how to have respect for authority, but come on, don't do that to us.

Watch MI, though. Michigan has one of these "super bowl" stadiums that may seat even more than yours, while they're actually more skilled at hockey, baseball and basketball even when the Pistons are kinda painful for now.

Watch MI, it is more dangerous than I am.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by mousquet

Hammer, I can hardly understand what you're saying while I can read English to some extent... You're a mod here, and I owe you respect cause they taught me how to have respect for authority, but come on, don't do that to us.

Watch MI, though. Michigan has one of these "super bowl" stadiums that may seat even more than yours, while they're actually more skilled at hockey, baseball and basketball even when the Pistons are kinda painful for now.

Watch MI, it is more dangerous than I am.

Well I'm sure you've figured out those asterisks are things you don't have to read to figure out what I'm saying

What was that word? Starts with iso- ... Isotropic? nooo...Isomorphic? Isostatic? Isosceles? No, no, no... Grr, this is going to be annoying...

[nito]

I would agree that stadium construction in Europe is ahead of that in the States. And yes, there is a valid point that a lot of stadiums are architecturally non-descript, although it could be argued that there are various pressures not present in the States such as far more teams (and thus stadiums), relegation systems (introduces potential financial volatility for clubs) and of course a significantly reduced appetite for public funds to be used to construct what are private venues. In the UK clubs are expected to make contributions (to the public realm, transport, etc...) as a condition of planning approval, which is of course in stark contrast to the US where taxpayers are subsidising oligopolies.

As detailed by mousquet, there are certainly some creative and different venues – that aren’t just pushing design but engineering boundaries – materialising in Europe. Just take London:
- The Olympic Stadium with the world’s largest cantilevered roof and the digital wrap that will be installed in the New Year.
- Chelsea’s ‘gothic’ cathedral and non-symmetrical design.
- Spurs’ new White Hart Lane incorporating a second pitch for NFL matches.


Image sourced from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/gal...hams-new-home?


Image sourced by RMB2007 from skyscrapercity: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...&postcount=320

One thing not to forget as well is that Europe still has a fantastic and vast array of historic venues, some dating back well over a century. Lord’s Cricket Ground in London is now over 200 years old and has been constantly added to over the years, most famously with the Media Centre which looks like an alien spaceship has landed to watch a game of test cricket.


Image sourced from TheFatnick: https://www.flickr.com/photos/809550...922105/sizes/l

[mhays]

There's nothing worse than being in the sun indoors.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by mhays

There's nothing worse than being in the sun indoors.

generally speaking of course i agree with you, but have you ever been to bullfights in mexico? you would very quickly change your mind!

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by mousquet

You're making so much fun of it that you'll soon be the last one on Earth to still use it.

Watch that one: hé hé hééé. Try that dang evil one in your proper nasty, disgusting tone. You'll love it, it fits your penis.

wut? maybe you need to put more than "a couple of seconds to watch some pictures" of research into the new vikings stadium before commenting about it fiston.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by mousquet

^ I can't tell whether any serious acoustics study was ever made on the topic, but some of the PA fan excitement might get lost to the sky in that stadium. That'd be too bad, right?

And of course the size of it helps. We don't have any that large in France where the largest is the Stade de France with some 80k seats. It's in greater Paris, but intended to host the games of the national rugby and soccer teams exclusively. No local team is supposed to play in there.

The largest arena in Europe is the "Nou Camp" of Barcelona. It's home to the FC Barcelona, one of the greatest soccer club ever.

serious acoustics studies were made on the topic:

At the Seattle Seahawks' CenturyLink Stadium the large overhanging roof reflects noise down towards the stands, and has helped the fans there – collectively and officially known as the 12th man – set the Guinness World Record for crowd noise, at an astounding 137.6 dBA, a decibel scale that accounts for how sensitive the human hearing system is to different sound frequencies.

[aaron38]

All those soccer stadiums are hideous, as are all the American football stadiums that are mostly roof with a hole in the top. Personally I can't stand either Am Football or Baseball stadiums with roofs.

Now if you want to see a beautiful stadium, look at Assembly Hall, at the University of Illinois. A concrete marvel.

Note: I didn't know it's been renamed and I flat out refuse to call it anything different.

[Wayward Memphian]

This was almost the look of the expansion Razorback Stadium back in the late 90s. The red fingers are actually covered land bridges to the top of the hill. The stadium sets in a valley the upper deck is about level with the main part of campus. Folks hated it. Called it too soccer in fact.



There are plenty of fine examples of modern architecture being incorporated into stadium in America. The University of Cincinnati newer additions are rather euro in styling

[nito]

Originally Posted by mhays

There's nothing worse than being in the sun indoors.

If you’re going to a sporting venue for the sun then you’ve got your priorities in the wrong place!

[shivtim]

There's also the under-construction Mercedes Benz stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. Pretty impressive engineering. The top opens like an oculus.