Hasta La Ideas

Here are some photographs of the renovated 1960s Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, set to host matches during the 2014 FIFA World Cup (+ slideshow).

BCMF Arquitetos was commissioned for a complete overhaul of the 1960s football stadium, located on the edge of the Pampulha Lagoon. Originally designed by architects Eduardo Mendes Guimarães Júnior and Gaspar Garreto, the building features an oval-shaped structure with a rhythmic facade made up of 88 projecting ribs.

The team stripped the building back to its shell, before adding a new roof, lowering the pitch, upgrading all services and infrastructure, and adding new shops and a dedicated football museum.

“Since Mineirão is a protected building, the addition of new program could be solely made through the insertion of a platform at its base,” said the design team. “Subverting the classic notion of a podium, which refers to a horizontal building with a flat top surface, this platform is carved on the ground and shaped accordingly, creating semi-public squares set at different levels.”

The lowering of the pitch helps to improve sight lines for spectators, while redesigned seating tiers at the lower levels increase the capacity to over 62,000 seats.

Structural analysis revealed that the structure had subsided by around 30 centimetres. This was corrected using hydraulic jacks and steel cables, before the architects added a cantilevered roof to shelter spectators.

Sustainable technologies were also prioritised. As reported earlier this year, the stadium is the first in the world to be fully powered by solar energy, and uses rainwater harvesting to reduce its water consumption.

Improvements to the surrounding landscaping involved creating an artificial topography that defines public plazas, seating areas and routes between the stadium’s entrances and the nearby Mineirinho Gymnasium.

A number of large projects are underway in Brazil, as the country prepares for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Other recently completed projects include a new art museum and art school in Rio and a huge social housing complex in São Paulo.

See more architecture on Brazil »
See more stadiums »

Here’s some more information from BCMF Arquitetos:

New Mineirão

Inaugurated in 1965 (original design by Eduardo Mendes Guimarães Júnior and Gaspar Garreto) as the second largest stadium in the world, the Mineirão Stadium is located in the surroundings of the Pampulha Lagoon, close to Oscar Niemeyer’s and Burle Marx seminal work, being part of Belo Horizonte’s main postcard. As Brazil was chosen to host the World Cup 2014, opportunity came about to transform the traditional stadium, whose façade is heritage listed, into a contemporary multifunctional sports facility.

The New Mineirão aims to go beyond its primary role as a world-class sports arena, also offering a range of services, commerce, culture and entertainment for the city, becoming a new hub of activities integrated to the modernist landscape of the leisure and touristic Pampulha complex.

The instrument chosen to make this operation possible was a public-private partnership (PPP), determining that the redevelopment of the stadium would be undertaken by a company which, in return, would be granted its use for the next 25 years. The winner of the bid was Minas Arena Consortium, that invited BCMF Architects, renowned for their expertise in sports architecture, to be responsible for the renovation of the New Mineirão.

In this context, to transform the “Pampulha Giant” into a modern multifunctional facility, the interventions proposed are both radical and respectful, reinforcing the monumental original structure within the iconic modernist landscape.

As for the original architecture of the Stadium, basically only the outer “shell” remained: the 88 structural semi-porticos, the concrete roof and the upper tiers. The rest of the “core” was completely rebuilt to guarantee the total overhaul inside the arena, including the new extension of the roof, all the new program and infrastructure, besides the lowering of the pitch and the lower tiers redesign, improving the sight-lines for the new capacity of 62,160 seats.

The renovation on the outside is total, with a new 200,000 sqm operational platform separating the spectators’ from the accredited flow. The “Esplanade” includes various facilities around the stadium, opened to the public as an immense landscaped plaza, visually linked to the Pampulha Lagoon. This platform is sculpted and moulded to the site as an artificial topography, integrated with the immediate surroundings, being perceived as a continuation of the street domain. Thus, the public is attracted by programs strategically distributed throughout the esplanade, creating areas with potential to generate activities and movement during all day, seven days a week.

The project has also sustainable features, using solar energy, reusing rainwater, as well as efficient lighting systems, intelligent control of energy and so on (LEED Certification). After the event, many operational areas which are specific for the 2014 World Cup will have other uses (institutional, commercial and leisure programs), contributing for the economic sustainability of the complex.

The New Mineirão points out ways in which sports mega events can leave a lasting legacy to the host-cities. Here, even though interventions are made on a stadium scale, they respond to the demands of larger scales, such as the neighbourhood, the landscape and the city itself. Thus, the ambition is that the urban domain should be invited into the realm and scope of the architecture.

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by BCMF Arquitetos appeared first on Dezeen.

For those who like to push themselves to the limits, there is no greater moment of glory when they reach the summit, catch that spectacular wave or climb the extremely difficult rock face. Extreme sports thrill but capturing the action from the doer’s perspective gets easier with the Lobster-x Wearable Camera for Extreme Sports. The design features a rolling band in camera construction, which the user can fasten on any part of their body such as head, arm or ankle. Flexible hinges let you feel comfortable wearing it.

Designer: Soohun Jung

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(Xtreme Sports Cam was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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Danish architecture studio BIG has completed a sunken sports hall where an arching wooden roof doubles up as a hilly courtyard (+ slideshow).

BIG was asked by Gammel Hellerup high school to design a new building that could be used for sports, graduation ceremonies and social events. Rather than replacing the school’s existing courtyard, the architects decided to sink the hall five metres below the ground and create a decked surface over the top.

Concrete retaining walls surround the new hall, while a series of curving timber joists give the roof its arched shape.

Solid ash was used for the floor and is painted with colour-coded lines that denote basketball, football and badminton courts. A sliver of daylight penetrates the room through a series of skylights around the edges, while narrow lighting fixtures create stripes of illumination across the ceiling joists.

Basement corridors connect the hall with the existing school buildings. BIG also added solar panels onto the rooftops of these structures to generate heating for the new space.

Above the hall, the decked surface was conceived as an informal meeting area, with outdoor furniture installed so that students can work in groups or simply take time out between classes.

“Opposed to placing the hall outside the school’s building – thus spreading the social life even more – the new hall creates a social focal point and connection between the existing facilities of the high school,” explain the architects.

BIG is led by architect Bjarke Ingels. The firm recently unveiled designs for a Lego visitor centre and is competing with OMA over the redesign of Miami Beach Convention Center. See more architecture by BIG.

Other sports centres completed lately include a Japanese school building with an exposed timber frame and a gymnasium that swells outwards to let light in from above. See more sports centres.

Photography is by Jens Lindhe, apart from where otherwise stated.

Read on for a project description from BIG:

How do we transform a courtyard into a new social meeting point?

Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium is, with its characteristic yellow brick buildings, a good example of a school building in a human scale and a fine architectural example of its time. The sports facilities have, however, become too insufficient and the high school is lacking a large, multifunctional space for physical activities, graduation ceremonies and social gatherings. The Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium, a self-owned governmental institution, wishes therefore to build a new flexible hall for the students’ usage with a particular focus on sustainability.

The new multi-purpose hall will primarily be for the pupils’ physical education and social development. The hall is placed 5 metres below ground in the centre of the school’s courtyard which ensures a good indoor climate, low environmental impact and high architectural quality. The characteristic soft curved roof wood construction will act externally as an informal meeting place that can host numerous activities from group work to larger gatherings. The edge of the roof is designed as a long social bench with easy access across the courtyard and is perforated with small windows to ensure the penetration of daylight. Solar panels placed strategically around the existing buildings provide heat for the hall. Opposed to placing the hall outside the school’s building – thus spreading the social life even more – the new hall creates a social focal point and connection between the existing facilities of the high school.

Project: Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium
Client: Gammel Hellerup Gymnasium
Collaborators: CG Jensen, EKJ, Grontmij
Budget: 50 mio DKK
Sise: 1,100 m2
Location: Hellerup, DK
Status: completed 2013

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by BIG appeared first on Dezeen.

News: London architecture firm Grimshaw has unveiled a masterplan for the home of the annual Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament.

Grimshaw‘s proposal for All England Lawn Tennis club includes building a new retractable roof on No.1 Court so play can continue in all weather conditions, and creating three new grass courts on the edge of the site to free up more space in the busy central and south areas.

“Our proposals strive to improve the quality of the experience for all, and provide innovative and high-quality solutions to meet the challenges posed by this beautiful but constrained site,” says Grimshaw partner Kirsten Lees.

Landscaping of the public areas has been designed to reinforce the “spirit of tennis in an English garden”, with improved approaches to the stadiums and vistas of the outside courts from new hospitality areas.

Landscape architecture firm Grant Associates has created a landscape framework for the plan, which will “include enhanced landscape walkways and promenades, the use of topiary, green walls and planted pergolas, creative paving, display areas, enhanced tree planting and themed garden spaces.”

The plans will be used as a framework for redevelopment that will take place over the next 10-20 years and have been announced ahead of the start of the Wimbledon Championships on Monday.

Grimshaw was chosen to oversee the masterplan last year, following the completion of a previous development phase that included the construction of a roof on Centre Court by architects Populous.

Last year, Grimshaw’s restoration of historic tea clipper the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, was hammered by critics and was named the ugliest building of the year. The firm recently submitted plans for a twisting 90-storey skyscraper in the Australian city of Sydney.

See all stories about Grimshaw »

Here’s a statement provided by Grimshaw:

Wimbledon and Grimshaw’s new vision for championships

The All England Lawn Tennis Club has unveiled its design proposals for the Wimbledon Master Plan. Marking the first step in a consultation process, the plan sets out a vision for the future of the site and creates a framework which will guide the continuing development and enhancement of the Club over the next 10-20 years. Developed by Grimshaw, the vision reflects and reinforces the long history of The Championships while further enhancing Wimbledon’s position as the premier Grand Slam tennis event.

Building on the Club’s previous Long Term Plan, the proposed Master Plan is influenced by the much loved traditional qualities and character of the grounds. It will draw on these existing assets whilst simultaneously resolving some of the challenges that this beautiful but constrained site poses. The vision has been determined by a radical rethink and strategic re-configuration of the grounds to optimise the use of the site. Three new grass courts have been located to the north of No.1 Court to release space and ease congestion in the central area and the south.

No.1 Court will be remodelled to receive a new fixed and retractable roof, which will allow for uninterrupted play irrespective of the weather. It will also provide new hospitality areas, replacing the temporary facilities currently situated at the south of the Grounds, which will benefit from spectacular views over the outside courts.

A new landscape framework will enhance and define the public areas and reinforce the spirit of tennis in an English garden. Enhanced approaches to the grounds are created with improved setting of stadia, main buildings and entrance spaces. A series of distinctive character areas are defined which connect and choreograph the various spaces that enrich the visitors’ experience.

Speaking about Grimshaw’s aspirations for the site, Partner Kirsten Lees said: “Maintaining The Championships’ status as the premier tennis tournament in the world underpins the Wimbledon Master Plan. Our proposals strive to improve the quality of the experience for all and provide innovative and high quality solutions to meet the challenges posed by this beautiful but constrained site.”

Grimshaw’s proposals will now be brought forward in a phased development by a process of detailed study, refinement and consultation. The publication of the Wimbledon Master Plan is the first exciting step in the consultation process with a wide range of stakeholders that will take place in the coming months.

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by Grimshaw appeared first on Dezeen.