Archinect - News

Design of Norman Foster's Lusail FIFA World Cup Stadium in Qatar unveiled

2018-12-17T14:13:00-05:00

Officials in Qatar revealed the design for Lusail Stadium, the venue at which the opening and final games of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place. The 80,000-capacity venue will be the largest stadium of the tournament, which will kick off on November 21, 2022, and be the first to take place in the Arab world.

Image courtesy of Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy.

While most designs of the eight 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums have been subject of public debate for some time (most notably the controversial Zaha Hadid-planned Al Wakrah Stadium), the final appearance of the biggest and central venue of the games had not been revealed until now: the 80,000-seat Lusail Stadium was designed by Foster + Partners and forms the centerpiece of the newly built Lusail City metropolis just north of the capital Doha. The 'golden bowl' facade takes inspiration from the region's traditional fanar lanterns.

Lusail Stadium concept. Video via Road to 2022 on YouTube.

Construction of the stadium is well underway, and the massive substructure is reportedly complete.

The venue's modular concept allows the stadium to transform into a community space complete with schools, shops, sporting and health facilities once the World Cup's last game has been played in mid-December 2022.

Amnesty International reports ongoing systematic exploitation of 2022 World Cup migrant workers

2017-12-22T15:23:00-05:00

Migrant workers constructing stadiums for the Qatar 2022 World Cup continue to be trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, according to new research by Amnesty International. Fifa is already under pressure from its own advisory board to act over the kafala system, used to monitor migrant labourers, which has been described as modern slavery. Now, a survey by Amnesty has found two-thirds of migrant workers have paid excessive or illegal recruitment fees.

Despite promises from Qatari and FIFA officials about improved labor conditions, the situation for Nepali migrant workers building the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup remain dire.

In its 2015 report Qatar: Profit and Loss. Counting the cost of modern day slavery in Qatar: What price freedom?, the International Trade Union Confederation estimated that "7,000 construction workers will die in Qatar before a ball is kicked in the 2022 World Cup" and demanded that FIFA would make workers' right a central concern of the preparations. In response, FIFA launched a Human Rights Advisory Board in early 2017 and published its first report in November. Amnesty International welcomed the report but pointed out that it omitted "some key issues related to the Qatar 2022 World Cup."

Vladimir Putin: 2018 World Cup stadiums overall on track, but delays "unacceptable"

2017-10-04T14:44:00-04:00

Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned 2018 World Cup officials that delays to preparations for the tournament are "unacceptable", although they are not yet "critical". Russia will host its first World Cup from 14 June to 15 July using 12 venues in 11 cities across the country. Putin, 64, said that while work was "entirely satisfactory" overall, "there are nevertheless some delays".

With the world's biggest soccer event officially kicking off in June 2018, Russian President Putin is whipping his officials in formation to have construction on the twelve venues in eleven cities across Russia completed without any delays — and avoid the fiasco from the Sochi Olympic Games.

Not everyone's happy about the new stadiums though.

This Russian farmer built a stadium out of straw to satirize the new Zenit Arena in Saint Petersburg

2017-07-24T13:13:00-04:00

A farmer in Russia has built a football stadium out of straw to mock the ballooning cost and corruption surrounding the construction of St Petersburg’s Zenit Arena, recently opened for the 2018 World Cup. Although the straw version in the Stavropol region lacks the extra-terrestrial elegance of the Kisho Kurokawa’s design, and while its seating capacity is rather less than 68,000, it was a great deal cheaper: $673 compared with the original’s $720m.

Here's an image of the IRL Zenit Arena:

And here's a video of the construction of the straw parody:

Amnesty International reports new numbers of Qatar's FIFA World Cup 2022 migrant exploitation

2017-05-26T12:55:00-04:00

Migrants building a state-of-the-art stadium for the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar are abused and exploited – while FIFA makes huge profits.

As previously covered in Archinect news, many migrant workers in Qatar face abuse and exploitation, forced labor or even death.

A recent report from Amnesty International reveals new numbers — over 90% of Qatar's workforce, an estimated 1.7 million people, are migrant workers coming from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. 3,200 workers, mostly migrants, work on Khalifa Stadium every day. The majority of the workers seeking jobs in Qatar are escaping poverty in their home countries. They are often forced to pay recruitment fees ranging from anywhere between $500 to $4,300 that leave many in debt and hunger. Passports are taken away, making those people unable to leave their jobs or the country while being unpaid for months.

Considering the conditions and the threats that the migrant workers endure in Qatar, it is truly challenging to not regard their situation as one of the forms of modern-day slavery.

China builds its dream island; Qatar controversies continue; the internet slows down: Weekly News Round-Up for September 7, 2014

2014-09-15T20:01:00-04:00

Friday, September 12:

Vincent Scully Prize 2014 awarded to journalist and TV host Charlie Rose: The prize was established by the National Building Museum in 1999, and is named after the famed Yale art history and architecture professor who helped establish Louis Kahn and Robert Venturi. Rose was distinguished by his interviews of leaders in urban design and development.

Thursday, September 11:

Toronto set to unveil first museum of Islamic culture in North America: The museum is backed by Aga Khan, a "lesser-known royal" and spiritual leader of an estimated 15 million Ismaili Muslims, approximately 100,000 of which now live in Canada. The museum is designed by Pritzker winner Fumihiko Maki, and opens September 18.

Wednesday, September 10:

The long-lost design bible of the New York subway is (briefly) back in print: In 1967, the New York City Transit Authority asked designers Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda to create a solution to the subway system's inconsistent and confusing identity. Th...

Architecture for Humanity-designed "Football for Hope" Centers give African youth a solid start

2014-07-17T21:07:00-04:00

With the 2014 FIFA World Cup just coming to a spectacular finale in Brazil, it's a perfect moment for Architecture for Humanity to announce the completion of 20 centers for 2010, a Football For Hope program and partnership legacy of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Launched in 2007 by FIFA and streetfootballworld as a social legacy initiative, the program was tasked to build 20 community centers across 15 African countries for the benefit of local organizations. The centers address education and public health issues, using soccer as a tool for social development.

Find more information about the Football for Hope Centers below.

Photo: Young children running on the pitch of the Khayelitsha Football for Hope Center, the first completed Football for Hope Center. Location: Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: A. Grips

"Football for Hope (FFH) was created to enhance dialogue and collaboration between locally active organizations advancing social development and football associations, committed...

Stadium Sticker Shock: Costs Explode for Russia's 2018 World Cup

2014-07-17T14:19:00-04:00

Moscow wants to make Russia the "center of the sporting world," but the price tag will be steep. Four years before the 2018 World Cup, costs are exploding in the next host country, with the two most important stadiums each costing more than a billion euros.

The Trouble with Favela Chic

2014-06-23T18:50:00-04:00

A Milwaukee bar called Nomad World Pub wanted to create a special place for its customers to watch the World Cup, so it decided to set up a faux favela inspired by Rio de Janeiro’s poverty-stricken mountainside slums. The fact the space comes with a taco hut — a type of food not even served in Brazil — reveals the depth of ignorance out of which it was created. You have to wonder: is the menu in Spanish too?

Prepping for World Cup, Brazilian police build mock favelas to train officers

2014-06-16T18:51:00-04:00

Police simulations such as these offer a peculiarly spatial insight into the ways humans attempt to make sense of the world. [...] Someone builds a surrogate or a stand-in—a kind of stage-set on which to test their most viable theories—then they control that replicant world down to every curb height and door frame. Architecture then comes along simply as ornamentation, in order to give this virtual world a physical footprint

5 months before the World Cup, half the venues aren't finished

2014-01-27T14:13:00-05:00

Less than five months before Brazil's World Cup kicks off, 6 out of 12 venues are still unfinished -- including a complex in the northern city of Manaus, where construction workers have died and pay for laborers is an issue. Fifa has warned Brazil's World Cup 2014 host city of Curitiba that it could be excluded unless work speeds up.

Previously: Three killed after partial stadium collapse at 2014 World Cup venue

Three killed after partial stadium collapse at 2014 World Cup venue

2013-11-27T14:51:00-05:00

Brazil's World Cup preparations suffered a deadly setback on Wednesday when a roof collapsed killing at least two building workers at the São Paulo stadium that is due to host the opening match. Coming a week before the draw for next year's tournament, the fatalities revive concerns about unsafe infrastructure and the slow pace of construction, which have dogged the hosts for more than a year.

Mekene Architecture’s Winning [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure Entry

2013-08-01T17:37:00-04:00

Earlier this week, we published the winners of the recent [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure competition which challenged architects to design a freestanding World Cup Structure on Rio de Janeiro's central Lapa Square during the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup. Winner of the First Place was the Mekene Architecture-designed entry 'Wing of Glory' which you can find in more detail below.

Previously: Winners of the [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure Competition

Winners of the [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure Competition

2013-07-29T20:30:00-04:00

The [RIO DE JANEIRO] Symbolic World Cup Structure competition has announced its winners. Hosted by [AC-CA], the international ideas competition invited architects and students of architecture and engineering to design a freestanding World Cup Structure on Rio de Janeiro's lively Lapa Square during the 2014 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Once Unsafe, Rio's Shantytowns See Rapid Gentrification

2013-06-07T12:56:00-04:00

A new boutique hotel perched on top of one of Rio's previously most dangerous favelas is about to open. And yes, there is a jazz club and yoga, too. These are new services catering to a new kind of favela resident. "It's actually very conveniently located for my work," says Natalie Shoup, a 22-year-old American who lives in a favela called Babilonia, or Babylon. "This has a good amount of transportation to every part of the city. It's nice. It worked out really well."

On the other hand: Remaking Rio: turning an urban dystopia into an Olympic playground (The Verge)

Previously on Archinect:

Before Olympics It's Demolition Derby

2012-03-05T15:13:00-05:00

The authorities think progress is demolishing our community just so they can host the Olympics for a few weeks

Brazilian government is evicting people and demolishing thousands of homes to stage the Olympics and the World Cup.

“These events were supposed to celebrate Brazil’s accomplishments, but the opposite is happening,” said Christopher Gaffney, a professor at Rio’s Fluminense Federal University. “We’re seeing an insidious pattern of trampling on the rights of the poor and cost overruns that are a nightmare.”

The favela evictions have struck a particular nerve on the streets. A network of activists in 12 cities estimates that as many as 170,000 people may face eviction ahead of the World Cup and the Olympics. In Rio, evictions are taking place in slums across the city, including the Metrô favela near the Maracanã stadium, where residents who refused to move live amid the rubble of bulldozed homes.