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Arquitetura do ImpossívelImpossible Architecture
Topic · 03 structures

Stadiums

A stadium has to hold tens of thousands of people and, almost always, be ready on a set date. The Maracanã was raised in less than two years for the 1950 World Cup: a concrete ring for more than 150,000 people, covered by a cantilevered canopy without a single column underneath, demolished in 2011.

In Houston, the Astrodome (1962–1965) covered an entire baseball stadium with a steel dome spanning 195.7 m, with no column in the middle, and the light from the skylights ended up killing the grass. In Munich, the Olympic Stadium (1969–1972) hung more than 70,000 square meters of acrylic from a cable net nobody knew how to calculate, and the roof only came to stand with the help of a computer.

Each page has the structure's fact sheet, the cost and what happened to the stadium afterwards.

Drawing board

Structures on this topic

  • Color aerial view of an oval concrete stadium with the green field at the center, packed stands and a continuous canopy divided into pale segments all the way around; in the background, a round-domed arena and city buildings 17 Premieres Jan 28, 2027

    Maracanã Stadium

    Maracanã neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil · 1948–1950

    How Rio built Maracanã in under two years, the largest stadium of its day, for the 1950 World Cup, and why its pillar-free canopy was torn down in 2011.

    BrazilRead the story →
  • Aerial view of a round stadium with a low, light-colored dome in the middle of a huge empty parking lot, with Houston neighborhoods and highways in the background under a blue sky 26 Premieres Apr 01, 2027

    Astrodome

    NRG Park, Houston, Texas, United States · 1962–1965

    How Houston roofed the Astrodome with a 196 m dome in 1965, why the light through the roof killed the grass, and what is done today with the closed dome.

    WorldRead the story →
  • Color photograph from 1972: the stadium's transparent roof of cables and panels, hung from tall leaning masts, over a concrete grandstand; in the foreground, a red running track and a street with buses 27 Premieres Apr 08, 2027

    Munich Olympic Stadium

    Olympic Park, Munich, Bavaria, Germany · 1969–1972

    How the cable-and-acrylic roof of the Munich Olympic Stadium came from a nylon stocking, went through wire models and only stood up thanks to a computer.

    WorldRead the story →
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Other topics

The structures grouped by the problem they solved: bridges, skyscrapers, tunnels, stadiums, water.