Abstract
Since the turn of the new Millennium, there has been an increase in efforts to build environmental-friendly sports arenas around the world. Fuelled by large sporting events like the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the ‘Green Games,’ and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, stadium architecture has become a vehicle for this trend. So far, the emphasis has primarily been on new arenas, in line with the widespread belief in international architecture of the 2000s that older buildings are less energy-efficient by default. In addition to that comes a conviction that newness is needed to attract sponsors, investors, and larger audiences—a position powered by commercial interest and the idea of the stadium as an ‘urban generator.’ While new stadiums may have a significant potential when it comes to green performability, that does not necessarily mean that older stadiums are surplus to requirements, even from a climate perspective. In this paper, we look critically at the well-established strategy of replacing old stadiums with new ones by questioning the climate impact of new arenas and investigating the reuse potential of existing ones. We carry out in-depth analysis of two existing stadiums, Tynecastle Park in Edinburgh and Stadio Flaminio in Rome. One of them has already gone through renovation to remain in use while the other is vacant but currently under way to be renovated. We bring in fresh perspectives from sports science, preservation, architecture, and circular design theory to explain why older stadiums become obsolete and to challenge the premise of that destiny. The aim is not only to scrutinize the general lack of reuse but also to highlight green strategies which could give existing stadiums a longer life.
Highlights
Similar agendas are currently being voiced by a number of architects and planners inspired by the principles of circular economy, which is an economic system where all forms of waste are minimized through continuous use of resources (Lacy et al, 2020)
Adaptive reuse and maintenance are of particular relevance to our study of two historical stadiums—Tynecastle Park (Figure 1) in Edinburgh and Stadio Flaminio (Figure 2) in Rome—and the quest of keeping them in use
Tynecastle Park was chosen as it represents an example of a socially sustainable solution and an exception to the tendency of professional football clubs moving out from inner city locations to more suburban locations, disrupting both social and environmental dimensions of stadiumconstruction
Summary
‘If the twentieth century can be characterized by growth or expansion, the greatest issue for the world in the twenty-first century is shrinkage’ (Hidetoshi, 2009, p. 79). ‘If the twentieth century can be characterized by growth or expansion, the greatest issue for the world in the twenty-first century is shrinkage’ According to the Japanese architect Ohno Hidetoshi, the world no longer has the capacity to absorb everything we build, produce and consume. He does not stand alone in this call for downscaling. ‘Enough: The Architecture of Degrowth’ was the heading of the 2019 Oslo Architecture Triennale. The 2021 recipients of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, one of the highest honors in the profession, were Lacaton and Vassall, the French duo whose motto is ‘Never demolish, never replace.’
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