Tokyo Stadium | Zaha Hadid Architects

As part of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games, Japan’s Sport Council set a competition to design and construct a new national stadium, the winner, Zaha Hadid Architects. The site of this project will be on the site of the stadium that played a key part in the hosting of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, making this new proposal of considerable symbolic importance for the area. The existing stadium, which is still used for sports events like soccer matches, will be knocked down to make way for the new stadium in 2015 allowing plenty of time for the new structure to be finished in time to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup. In tradition to Zaha Hadid Architects’s signature flowing and futuristic style, the fluidity and novelty of the design complements Toyko’s crowded geographic and cultural landscapes. One of the winning aspects of the design for the jury was how this new building would fit into its surroundings and the type of message it would convey not only to the residents around the area but to the entire world.

The design is light and cohesive, seamlessly connecting the stadiums different elements to create a silhouette that integrates with the city. Adhering to the competitions firm requirements, the new stadium design will be able to seat 80,000 people, have a retractable roof and be environmentally efficient, along with many more spectacular elements that will make it the focal point of the 2020 Olympic Games. Even though this is just a proposal and the finalized design plans will not be ready until March 2015, Zaha Hadid Architects clearly outdone herself. The design is smooth, eye catching, and memorable. It makes an impact in an area that greatly needs a boost of confidence, self-esteem, and importance. It will be great to see how this project develops in the future and what the finished product will look like, for if it is anything close to what is imagined in the renderings, the building will surely be as spectacular as the Olympics itself. I do think that it is slightly disappointing that a Japanese firm did not win the proposal for the new Tokyo Stadium as I feel it would be more demonstrative of Japans culture and community. Still Zaha Hadid Architects’s proposal speaks for its self and is definitely a winning design in all regards.