Erweiterung des Stadtstadions / Opracowanie koncepcji architektonicznej rozbudowy Stadionu Miejskiego im. Floriana Krygiera

THE CONCEPT

To transform “function” into “beauty” is probably a good way of describing sports stadium design. Everything has to work, but everything needs to look aesthetically convincing. While being complex functional structures, stadia also represent a specific feeling of joy and pride. Those should also be represented in the architecture, as well as the specific history and the specific context. So each solution is in effect a single solution.

The CANOPY is an example of this idea: a simple continuous element, aesthetically unifying all elements underneath it, it also serves as a representation piece, a “COMMUNAL HAT”. To achieve this we simplify the elements of structure and support, so that it is first seen as a flying plane, and only when we approach it we feel the functioning elements, the concrete columns, the steel beams, the linear surfacing of the roof cover. We want the public to concentrate on the context first, and then to discover this new presence inside.

THE NEW BUILDING was designed to feel that it is “sitting” on top of the existing, (now remodeled), stadium stands: It symbolizes the “NEW” that respects and looks at the memory of the “OLD”. The contemporary aspirations grounded in the history of the club and the stadium itself. In its repeated glass front façade we would hope that one will see the reflection of the existing complex, at the same time that it senses the ambitions of a new era for the stadium.



THE PROJECT

The present project is a response to the competition held for the up-grading of the Pogon Szczecin Stadium. Following a careful reading of the program and brief, we understand objectives of the competition to be:

• Create a coherent, functional, quality Sport Complex, which includes not only the Soccer field, but much other equipment such as training pitch, Skate Park, Offices of the Club, parking and maintenance facilities. In this task the full organization of accesses and regress to the stadium should be reformulated

• Up-grade the existing conditions of the stadium. On one hand by demolishing the existing north stand, and create a new one parallel to the pitch, and the re-use the existing building that houses Media and VVIP facilities. The solution shall be functional, economically viable, and aesthetically pleasing.

• Create a new Canopy to cover all the seats of, resulting in a new level of comfort for the spectators, as well as a new unifying image for the stadium.

We also understand the challenge in creating an aesthetically strong piece of architecture, which will transform positively the way the public will perceive the building. With this solution we maintain the qualities the existing structure: open exterior ambulatory aisles inserted in the terrain, by continuing the geometry of the existing stands, while we insert them in the new image created by the new building and the canopy. In both we stress the quality of simple effective and economical design, the capacity for flexibility created by the use of modular systems, be it in the elevation of the new building or on the roof cover.