Archinect - News

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

2024-04-08T13:02:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has announced plans for a programmatic expansion of their previous Marina Bay Sands design in Singapore.

The scheme calls for the addition of a new luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, and further spaces reserved for work, retail, and dining.

The project is being undertaken to provide a boost to Singapore’s tourism sector, which is considered lagging behind other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in spite of strong post-pandemic numbers. (The resort has drawn more than 470 million visitors since its opening, according to a press release from its Las Vegas-based management group.)

Rendering of the new entertainment arena. Image courtesy Marina Bay Sands

"The all-suite hotel tower will set new standards of hospitality, the state-of-the-art arena will help attract the highest-caliber global entertainment events and artists, and the additional convention and exhibition space will extend the success of Singapore as a leading MICE d...

2023's best in sports architecture and stadiums

2023-12-22T08:00:00-05:00

Throughout 2023, nearly every month featured exciting news related to forthcoming big-scale stadium projects and athletic developments. Many of these weren't limited to stadiums alone but were merely components of greater mixed-use districts that also include room for housing, office spaces, parks and green spaces, as well as retail. Schemes centered more around lifestyle, living, and entertainment seem to be a growing trend in this arena.

There were some common names, such as Populous and HOK, who were very busy this year. Other notable firms were active, as well, with projects including both renovations and completely new structures for various sports.

As part of Archinect's 2023 Year in Review, take a look at some of the best sports architecture and stadium projects in our news this year.

Image courtesy Indy Eleven and Keystone Group

Populous unveils $1 billion Eleven Park stadium design for Indianapolis

In February, Populous unveiled designs for a $1 billion, 20,000-seat multip...

New construction video highlights AECOM's nearly complete Intuit Dome in Inglewood

2023-07-19T13:35:00-04:00

Following reports of its topping out in March, the AECOM-designed Intuit Dome, the future home of the Los Angeles Clippers, is taking shape ahead of its expected completion in 2024.

A new video depicts the status of the project as of June 2023, where its standout steel frame with diagrid geometry can be seen wrapping the structure. This building skin is formed from a series of diamond-shaped, interwoven metal panels with multiple uses. According to the architects, the frame was inspired by the form of a basketball net as a ball passes through it.

A vast array of solar panels can also be spotted on the structure’s roof. Intuit Dome is set to operate 100% carbon-free, powered fully by batteries and solar power. The design team, alongside the Clippers organization, worked towards initiatives that will earn the stadium a LEED Platinum certification.

The $1.2 billion, 18,000-seat arena will be the centerpiece of a larger mixed-use project, including an 85,000-square-foot training faci...

Kenzo Tange's 'Boat Gymnasium' in Japan faces demolition

2023-02-21T14:52:00-05:00

An important Kenzo Tange design is facing an uncertain future in Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture after reports that authorities there are moving forward with the demolition of his 1964 “Boat Gymnasium” over disrepair and an apparent inability to fund seismic structural upgrades.

The Brutalist structure in Takamatsu was first shuttered in 2014 and has since been the subject of preservation pushes that unsuccessfully pressured the government to save the building, which shares many of the same stylistic elements as his masterwork Yoyogi National Gymnasium built the same year for the Olympic games in Tokyo.

The news comes almost a year removed from the final fate of the Kisho Kurokawa-designed Nakagin Capsule Tower, which is now being disbursed piecemeal to private enthusiasts and public collections after a long back-and-forth came to a close with preservationists on the losing end.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Bigjap (CC0 1.0)

The local Board of Education, which manages the gymnasi...

Zaha Hadid Architects designs 'stratified, geological' sports complex in Hangzhou, China

2022-10-27T11:58:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled their competition-winning design for the Hangzhou International Sports Center in China. The complex will be anchored by a 60,000-seat football stadium, while also holding a 19,000-seat indoor arena, an aquatics center with two 164-foot-long pools, and practice pitches.

Image credit: Brick Visual

The 1.45 million-square-foot stadium is connected to the indoor arena and aquatics center via a central podium. Inspired by tea farms on Hangzhou’s surrounding hillsides, the weaving, terracing podium also houses the sport center’s ancillary facilities including training and fitness halls, locker rooms, shops, offices, restaurants, and cafes.

Image credit: Plomp

The louvered façade of the main stadium seeks to become more porous than traditional solid stadiums, while the configuration of the seating bowl aims to bring spectators “as close as possible” to the field of play, creating what the design team calls an “intense matchday atmosphere for players on the ...

LA's Crypto.com Arena is getting a 'nine-figure' overhaul courtesy of Gensler and MEIS

2022-08-24T15:07:00-04:00

AEG has announced a new “nine-figure” overhaul of Los Angeles’ iconic renamed Crypto.com Arena (formerly The Staples Center) and adjacent L.A. LIVE pedestrian mall in a two-year project that promises to “provide fans with entirely new ways to experience their favorite sports and music event” once it is completed in 2024.

Urbanize LA has more on the planned renovations, which include a new entrance at the concourse level, added restaurant offerings, LED displays, reimagined City View Terrace, upgraded locker rooms, and the creation of new private suites and a multi-level Tunnel Cub said to be reserved for the arena’s many nightly VIP guests.

Image courtesy AEG

Ron Turner (Gensler) and Dan Meis (MEIS), the two architects who worked on the original Staples Center project 25 years ago, will return to oversee the construction, which they say is meant to provide fans with an enhanced entertainment experience for the next three decades.

Image courtesy AEG

“As one of the ...

Concrete frame at LA Clippers' new Intuit Dome arena tops out

2022-08-05T15:28:00-04:00

The AECOM-Hunt Turner joint venture is celebrating the topping out of the Intuit Dome’s concrete frame, the future home of the Los Angeles Clippers.

According to Turner, more than 200,000 hours of work were performed by 350 workers to complete the frame. During construction, 65,000 cubic yards of concrete were placed, and 6,600 concrete mix truck deliveries were completed. The largest foundation pour was 2,572 cubic yards, and the largest deck pour was 980 cubic yards.

Previously on Archinect: The Los Angeles Clippers break ground on $1.8 billion Intuit Dome

“What our construction team has achieved in the last six months is incredible,” said Rames Sundaram, Project Executive at Turner. “Our first foundation was poured on January 12th, and our last deck pour is on July 27th. So, in just six short months, we have completed what normally takes nine months of work. Really amazing!”

According to Turner Vice President Michael Marchesano, the swift completion of the concrete frame has en...

Populous announces a new esports arena and NFT collection in its hometown

2022-04-29T20:03:00-04:00

Sports arena mainstay Populous is venturing into new territory after its announcement of a new five-part NFT collection in partnership with their hometown esports franchise aptly named the Kansas City Pioneers.

According to the firm, the collection is meant to showcase a prototype future home for fans of the increasingly popular potential future Olympic competition.

Image courtesy Populous

The new project represents the firm’s third official foray into esports following their 100,000 square foot Esports Stadium Arlington and the planned $500 million Toronto hotel and entertainment complex being developed in collaboration with OverActive Media.

Previously on Archinect: Populous and OverActive Media unveil updated plans for performance venue in Toronto

Pioneers co-founder Mark Josey says it will “[provide] access to authentic, personalized experiences, and build connections to a community here and beyond.” The new digital arena can be accessed via the metaverse platform OpenSea and pla...

Populous-designed 'Ice Ribbon' for the 2022 Winter Olympics takes center stage in Beijing

2022-02-03T13:08:00-05:00

The eyes of the world will soon turn to the new Populous-designed National Speed Skating Oval as the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics prepare to kick off in Beijing.

As the only new permanent venue at this year’s games, the 'Ice Ribbon' takes its place in line with the National Aquatics Center and Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron-designed Bird’s Nest on a central corridor called the Olympic Green. The design is meant to symbolize speed and dynamism associated with the sport of speed skating.

Image courtesy Populous

The 12,000-seat venue will host the speed skating events and later be transformed into the long-term home for China’s newIce and Snow Sports Development Plan, which aims to get an impressive 300 million people involved in winter sports by the year 2025.

Image courtesy Populous

“Much of the inspiration for the conceptual design of the ‘Ice Ribbon’ came from a traditional ice game played in old Beijing which involved a high-speed spinning ice top,” explains Populous Ch...

Studio Libeskind’s Nokia Arena takes center ice in Finland

2021-12-16T13:13:00-05:00

An exciting new development is coming to one of the Nordic region’s most up-and-coming small cities as Studio Daniel Libeskind gets set to drop the puck tomorrow on a new ice hockey arena in Tampere, Finland.

Located along the intersection of a downtown railway axis, the mixed-use development also features hotel accommodations along with five residential towers meant to activate a downtown core that the firm characterizes as “the epitome of a thriving European City.”

Photo © Hufton+Crow

The 17,000-seat arena includes a casino and restaurant topped off by the hotel area and three luxurious rooftop saunas. Its curvilinear envelope suggests the speed and exhilaration of an attacking hockey forward on the power play, with variable cladding that breaks up the mass perfectly, culminating in a glass facade at ground level to meet both visitors and the city in the center of a well-organized urban scale development.

Photo © Hufton+Crow

“The Nokia Arena creates a new landmark for the city with ...

The Staples Center has been renamed to Crypto.com Arena

2021-11-18T16:04:00-05:00

Staples Center is getting a new name for Christmas: Crypto.com Arena. The downtown Los Angeles venue — home of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Sparks — will wear the new name for 20 years under a deal between the Singapore cryptocurrency exchange and AEG, the owner and operator of the arena, both parties announced Tuesday. Crypto.com paid more than $700 million for the naming rights, according to sources familiar with the terms, making it one of the biggest naming deals in sports history.

The arena’s new logo will debut on December 25th, and all of the Staples Center signage will be replaced by June 2022. The partnership between AEG and Crypto.com may see the integration of cryptocurrency and online payment into the arena. A 3,300-square-foot section at the entrance of the arena will become a dedicated Crypto.com “activation space” that will feature crypto-centric interactive experiences.

Gensler selected for new UW college basketball training facility in Seattle

2021-11-18T11:53:00-05:00

An ambitious new athletic facility for the University of Washington’s men’s and women’s basketball programs has got the ball rolling thanks to a design from Gensler.

The newly-approved Basketball Training & Operations Facility and Health & High Performance Center is seen as an enhancement of student-athlete life as well as a potential recruiting tool, for a program that has recently missed its shot to attract and retain several high-level future pros.

The project is being paid for entirely through private donations to UW’s athletics program, a fact that is especially welcome at a time when the university’s funds are in much greater need in other areas of campus life.

The facility will be installed on the current site of the historic Hec Edmundson Pavilion, one of America's oldest college gyms, and will include state-of-the-art new practice courts, locker rooms, dedicated film study rooms, player lounges, and something called an “enhanced performance center.”

In related Gensler Spor...

The world's first K-Pop-dedicated concert venue breaks ground in South Korea

2021-11-04T17:06:00-04:00

South Korea is getting its first and largest-scale arena dedicated to K-Pop. The project, called CJ LiveCity Arena, is being spearheaded by CJ LiveCity, a subsidiary of South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM, in partnership with sports and live entertainment company AEG. The group held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to mark the start of the project’s construction phase. The arena is expected to open in 2024.

In a statement from 2019 announcing the partnership, CJ LiveCity’s CEO Michael Kim said: “This collaboration combines CJ’s long-standing cultural business capabilities with AEG’s venue development and operations expertise and its global live touring and promotions capacities. Seoul Metropolitan Arena, which will be designed by a leading architectural firm, is expected to be a competitive venue not only across Asia but also globally due to performances of K-Pop as well as world-renowned artists.”

The venue will be located in Greater Seoul’s Goyang City and is designed to ...

Populous and OverActive Media unveil updated plans for performance venue in Toronto

2021-11-03T11:46:00-04:00

Entertainment company and developer OverActive Media (OAM) has unveiled updated plans for their Populous-designed entertainment venue and hotel complex. OAM has secured lease terms approval from the Exhibition Place Board of Governors in Toronto, allowing for a final review and approval by the Toronto City Council later this year.

The $500 million project was first unveiled at the end of February. It will be located on a 4.5-acre site in the heart of the historic Exhibition Place, a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto. Along with general entertainment, such as concerts, the venue will host conventions, corporate events, awards shows, and serve as an esports arena. It will be the home for Toronto’s two professional esports teams, the Toronto Ultra of the Call of Duty League and Toronto Defiant of the Overwatch League, both owned by OAM.

The 7,000-seat venue will sit along the waterfront, offering open public space, along with views and pedestrian access. Its dynamic form wi...

Populous' overhauled Climate Pledge Arena is officially open in Seattle

2021-10-26T10:13:00-04:00

The puck has dropped on the home debut of the NHL’s newest franchise. Seattle’s Kraken professional hockey team is settling into its new digs after the Populous-designed Climate Pledge Arena officially opened on Friday in the Emerald City.

The 17,400-seat arena is the risen corpse of the building known formerly as KeyArena, the original Paul Thiry structure from 1962 that was once home to the beloved world champion SuperSonics.

In the past, the city has been plagued by its inability to successfully find public funds for a replacement arena that would have kept the erstwhile NBA franchise from moving to Oklahoma (the city can also thank Howard Schultz for that) but was able to secure the private funding necessary to construct the arena, which came with a steep $1.15 billion price tag.

Now, the expanded 740,000-square-foot arena can bill itself as the world’s first net-zero carbon professional sports facility thanks to a solar roof that also features the ability to harvest rainwater, ...

The Los Angeles Clippers break ground on $1.8 billion Intuit Dome

2021-09-20T15:41:00-04:00

The design meetings have been going on for years. Technology has evolved throughout the process. Painstaking decisions were made time and time again, right down to what an inch or two difference in leg room between rows would mean or where cupholders should be affixed to the seats. Finally, Steve Ballmer and the LA Clippers are ready to build their new home.

Four years after announcing plans to relocate from the Staples Center, the Los Angeles Clippers have broken ground on their long-awaited $1.8 billion, privately funded arena. It will be named Intuit Dome, as part of a 23-year naming rights agreement with Intuit, Inc. The 18,000-seat, AECOM-designed arena is scheduled to open in time for the 2024-2025 NBA season.

Through this partnership, Intuit and the Clippers plan to establish programs to reinvigorate the local economy, such as a commitment by Intuit to provide $1 million over the next three years to underserved school districts that are part of a program providing financial education to students. Intuit has also committed to providing free tax preparation services for low-income families in the area.

Previously on Archinect: Plans for LA Clippers arena in Inglewood move ahead

In addition, the Clippers have agreed to an estimated $260 million community benefits package, the largest ever associated with an arena.

Bahadır Kul Architects captures the essence of Georgian culture with Batumi Stadium

2021-05-12T16:30:00-04:00

With a portfolio consisting of over twenty stunning stadium designs, Istanbul-based practice Bahadır Kul Architects has added to its collection with Batumi Stadium.

The soccer stadium, located in the Georgian city of Batumi, was completed in July 2020 and is the home of local soccer club FC Dinamo Batumi. For its design, Bahadır Kul Architects took inspiration from traditional Georgian dances and, at large, the dynamism, enthusiasm, and free spirited nature of Georgian culture. These qualities are evident in the stadium’s façade, which is clad with 76 overlapping panels, each slanted and different heights. This undulating form evokes movement and creates a rhythmic effect.

The number of façade panels is equal to the number of roof segments, which creates a uniform and consistent bowl. Covered with PVC, the stadium is neutral and almost cloud-like during the day. However, at night the structure is dynamically illuminated by the lighting of the surrounding city. The cladding will als...

LA Clippers Arena: Inglewood City Council approves environmental report

2020-07-22T18:36:00-04:00

The Clippers’ plans for a billion-dollar arena complex moved closer to reality Tuesday after Inglewood’s City Council voted unanimously to approve the environmental impact report for the project. The approval came seven months after the release of the report, which spanned thousands of pages and required nearly two years to complete [...].

Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Clippers

According to the Los Angeles Times, concerns over gentrification brought forward by local groups opposing the 18,000-seat Clippers Arena and nearby NFL SoFi Stadium development were ruled out by the report.

AECOM is the architect of the $1.2 billion arena complex proposal for the Steve Ballmer-owned NBA team.

Chybik + Kristof Architects to turn existing arena into four-building multipurpose cultural center in Czech Republic

2020-07-02T09:00:00-04:00

Chybik + Kristof Architects & Urban Designers have been selected to complete the construction of the Jihlava Multipurpose Arena, which will be one of the largest sports and leisure complexes in the Czech Republic. Construction is due to commence in 2021 and will be complete in 2023.

The project will build on the city's existing hockey stadium that was built back in 1956 and expand it into a four-building mixed-use sporting facility. The program includes an adaptable ice rink, a rooftop running track, and a gym in addition to a sports academy, hospitality establishments, and shops.

The planned use of the space will be to host both regional sporting and cultural events as well as act as a public platform open to a variety of audiences for use in a diverse range of activities. With a capacity of 5,600 spectators, the multifunctional space will extend the existing stadium's accommodations.

"We envisioned the Jihlava Multipurpose Arena as a deeply versatile complex, whose various funct...

Atlanta's State Farm Arena to become Georgia's largest voting center

2020-07-01T17:54:00-04:00

Atlanta's State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team, is being converted into a massive polling site to help the state of Georgia make voting more accessible to its residents.

CNN reports that the 17,000-seat arena will open as a polling center for the forthcoming August 11 runoff election and for the November election starting on November 3rd, when early voting begins. Aside from offering generous voting facilities for these elections, the stadium's 1,500 parking spots will also be made available for use by residents while they vote.

The arena was originally designed by Arquitectonica in 1998 and was renovated in 2018 by HOK.

The move comes as convention centers and sporting arenas around the country increasingly take on flexible uses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other significant events.

10 spectacular performance spaces for your Friday inspiration

2020-01-10T08:00:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the NEW board Performance Spaces.

↑ Mariinsky II Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia by Diamond Schmitt Architects with KP ViPS

↑ Palais de la Musique et des Congrès Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France by dietrich.untertrifaller architekten

↑ BLUEBARN Theatre in Omaha, NE by Actual Architecture Co.; Photo: Paul Crosby

↑ Shaftesbury Theatre in London, UK by Bennetts Associates; Photo: Peter Cook

↑ The Theatre School, DePaul University in Chicago, IL by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects; Photo: Jeff Goldberg/Esto

↑ Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA by SPF:architects

↑ Theatre Agora in Lelystad, The Netherlands by UNSt...

Plans for LA Clippers arena in Inglewood move ahead

2020-01-03T14:27:00-05:00

Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved fast-tracking the billion-dollar arena complex the Clippers want to build in Inglewood, as plans for the project continue to advance. [...] The Madison Square Garden Co., which owns the Forum less than two miles away, called the arena plan “deeply flawed” and pledged to continue its fight against the project.

Designs for the proposed $1.2 billion basketball arena by AECOM were first unveiled in July last year.

"The Clippers, owned by billionaire Steve Ballmer, will install 330 electric vehicle chargers at the arena, fund 1,000 residential chargers in the surrounding area, purchase two electric buses and 10 electric vehicles for Inglewood’s municipal fleet, and plant 1,000 trees as part of its agreement with CARB," Daily Breeze reports. "The arena is expected to meet a Gold standard under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program."

Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Clippers

If approved and completed, the 18,000-seat venue would become the new Inglewood home of the Los Angeles Clippers, just in time for the 2024-25 NBA season and coinciding with the end of the team's lease with its current home, the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

The planned arena is located near the currently under-construction Los Angeles Rams football stadium designed by HKS...

AECOM's basketball net-inspired designs for a new Los Angeles Clippers arena are unveiled

2019-07-26T16:18:00-04:00

The Clippers on Thursday unveiled the first look at their proposed Inglewood arena, an 18,500-seat, billion-dollar project funded by owner Steve Ballmer that the team believes will begin construction on time in 2021 and open three years later.

The basketball net-inspired designs for the 900,000-square-foot arena include a solar panel tile cladding system as well as a sunken basketball court overlooked by stacked seating areas, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Ground-level view of the plaza leading to the arena. Image courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers.

The arena is designed by AECOM, while Anderson Barker Architects and City Design Studio of Los Angeles are designing a series of buildings located with a plaza that leads to the arena. Hood Studios is providing landscape architecture services for the project.

The stadium will be located on a site next door to the forthcoming HKS Architects-designed Los Angeles Rams stadium.

3XN to design new arena in the heart of richly historic Bergen, Norway

2018-08-31T20:22:00-04:00

3XN was put in charge of designing a new arena and masterplan in Norway's historic port city of Bergen. Located in central Bergen's Nygardstangen district, the arena will be a catalyst to revamp the area, which has long been disconnected with the rest of the city and its waterfront.

Nygårdstangen Utvikling — a consortium comprising of Olav Thon, EDG Property, and Rexir — appointed 3XN for the project. The Copenhagen-based firm will work with GXN and Arup on a design that will revive the area while remain considerate of its historic surroundings and UNESCO heritage sites. Opus Bergen will lead a feasibility study of the area.

Image courtesy of 3XN.

3XN hasn't revealed too many project details and only a few renderings, but so far, the urban arena masterplan will include new housing, hotel, cinema, and a police academy, and will connect to surrounding districts via public plazas and vibrant street scapes.

“In developing this new arena, we considered the character...

Activetecture: 10 athletic spaces for your Friday inspiration

2018-06-01T09:00:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Sports!.

↑ London Stadium in London, UK by Populous

↑ Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague, Netherlands by FaulknerBrowns Architects; Photo: Hufton+Crow

↑ ‘Human Rights’ Sports Centre in Strasbourg, France by Dominique Coulon & associés; Photo: Eugeni Pons

↑ Squashbusters Center Expansion in Boston, MA by Merge Architects; Photo: John Horner Photography

↑ Hayden in Long Island City, NY by SLCE Architects; Interior Architect: JG Neukomm Architecture; Photo: Scott Frances

↑ Jaransanitwong Archery Club in Bangkok, Thailand by Archimontage Design Fields Sophisticated; Photo: Beer Singnoi

↑ GLP I-Park in Xi'An, China by More Design Offic...

How private citizens helped to save the Astrodome

2018-04-11T14:23:00-04:00

Though Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is the public official most closely tied to the salvation of the Astrodome, many private citizens have played important roles, too. Without their many letters, petitions, documents and road trips – the tools of architectural preservation – Houston might have lost its most iconic building.

Houston Chronicle editor Allyn West retells the long and twisting tale of how the Astrodome went from designated wrecking-ball fodder to National Historic Landmark and the activism behind it.

Kirksey Architecture selected to retrofit Houston's Astrodome

2016-12-23T13:14:00-05:00

Harris County commissioners have chosen Houston-based Kirksey Architecture to design a project to retrofit the Astrodome by raising its floor and installing parking spaces underneath. The $105 million project -- unveiled by county officials in September -- is the most recent attempt to secure the building's future. [...] Many feared then that the world's first multi-purpose domed stadium for sporting events would face the wrecking ball.

Houston "Eighth Wonder of the World" previously in the Archinect news:

Ten Top Images on Archinect's NEW "Sports!" Pinterest Board

2016-08-12T15:43:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!)

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the NEW board Sports!.

↑ Regent Park Aquatic Centre in Toronto, Canada by MacLennan Jaunkalns Miller Architects (MJMA)

↑ Gymnasium Regis Racine in Drancy, France by Alexandre Dreyssé Architectes & Sébastien Muller; Photo: Guillaume Clement

↑ Stadium in Mersin, Turkey by Bahadır Kul Architects; Photo: Ket Kolektif

↑ Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, UAE by Benoy; Roof material supplier: Euramax Coated Products

↑ Multipurpose Pavilion in Viana do Castelo, Portugal by Eduardo Souto de Moura; Photo: Joao Morgado - Architecture Photography

↑ Neudorf Sports Hall in Strasbourg, France by ATELIER ZÜNDEL CRISTEA; Photo: Sergio Grazia

↑ Palo Verde Library / Maryvale...

ULI report says Houston Astrodome “can and should live on”

2015-03-25T14:10:00-04:00

Houston’s iconic NRG Astrodome “can and should live on” as a multi-use park that will enhance the quality of life for residents of the city, serve as a popular tourist destination, and catalyze economic development that enhances the greater NRG Park and benefits the region as a whole, according to a report released today from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Read the full ULI report, The Astrodome, Harris County Texas: A Vision for a Repurposed Icon, here.

Sports stadium architecture: Welcome to the new temples of pleasure

2014-12-15T13:27:00-05:00

"It's like creating a contemporary cathedral in some ways [...]" "Often the stadium is meant to become the pride of a city, a landmark object, and as such, a monument representing the latest achievements in architecture." Since ancient Greeks built the first Olympic stadium in fine white marble, the arena has been as much about inspiring awe, as staging competition. Today's architects must go even further.