Architettura

New National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan

Zaha Hadid Architects has won the international competition to build the new National Stadium of Japan. The Practice, which produced the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympic Games, was selected ahead of 45 other international architecture firms for the US $1.62bn development.

The announcement was made in Tokyo by celebrated Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who chaired the judging panel. British architects Richard Rogers and Norman Foster were also judges. Making the announcement Mr Ando praised the fluidity and innovation of Hadid's design and how it complements Tokyo's landscape. "The entry's dynamic and futuristic design embodies the messages Japan would like to convey to the rest of the world," said Mr Ando at a press conference on Thursday.
"It is an honour for us to be selected to build the new National Stadium of Japan. I would like to thank the Japan Sports Council, the competition jury and the people of Japan who will enjoy this magnificent new venue. I have worked in Japan for 30 years. Our three decades of research into Japanese architecture and urbanism is evident in our winning design and we greatly look forward to building the new National Stadium," Hadid said. "The stadium will become an integral element of Tokyo's urban fabric, directly engaging with the surrounding cityscape to connect and carve the elegant forms of the design. The unique structure is both light and cohesive, defining a silhouette that integrates with the city. The perimeter of the stadium will be an inhabited bridge: a continuous exhibition space that creates an exciting new journey for visitors."
The competition rules specified the stadium must be able to seat 80,000 people; have a retractable roof, be environmentally efficient and complement the surrounding landscape. It must also be up and ready by 2018 to host the Rugby World Cup the following year. The construction budget is 130 billion yen ($1.62 billion).

The new Tokyo National Stadium more than a large sports facility designed to the highest design specifications and functional requirements. It is a piece of the city’s fabric, and urban connector which enhances and modulates people moving through the site from different directions and points of access. The elevated ground connections govern the flow of people through the site, effectively carving the geometric forms of the building.
The building volume sits gently within the urban landscape and is articulated as an assembly of stadium bowl, structural skeleton, cladding membranes and the museum, together forming an intricate structural composition that is both light and cohesive. The perimeter of the bowl structure becomes a new inhabited bridge, a continuous exhibition space that creates a new type of journey for visitors flowing along the project’s North-South axis.
The stadium roof defines an iconic silhouette that integrates gently within the cityscape around it. It is an intricate assembly of efficient long-spanning structural ribs which are spanned by a system of lightweight, translucent membranes. This unique structure is a lightweight solution, where the stadium elevation graciously touches the ground, defining a clear approach towards the stadium entrances. The interior of the stadium is also given a clearly identifiable identity through the strong roof structure that contrasts with the lightness of the translucent membrane tensile structures.
The museum is displaced from the main bowl geometry as a discernibly separate element. It defines an elevated plaza for public use – a new urban gathering space that can be used by the public for functions outside of sports events, yet its carefully controlled views into the stadium intimately tie it to the overall sports complex. The museum is lifted up above the ground plane, allowing for a minimal footprint on ground where the landscape extends beneath it.


Project
New National Stadium

Location
Tokyo, Japan

Date
2012 / 2019

Client
Japan Sports Council

Status
Competition Winning Entry

Size
290,000 m2

Capacity
80,000 people
Architect
Zaha Hadid Architects

Design
Zaha Hadid
Patrik Schumacher

Project Director
Jim Heverin
Cristiano Ceccato

Project Architect
Paulo Flores

Design Core Team
Rafael Contreras
Antonio Monserrat
Fernando Poucell
Irene Guerra
Junyi Wang
Karoly Markos

Tokyo Support Team
Yoshi Uchiyama
Ben Kikkawa