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Josh Rubin at Cool Hunting points us to Paris based designers Jean-Marie Massaud and Daniel Pouzet of Studio Massaud. Designers who have jumped in a bigger than “2001 Space Odyssey cinematic jump” from luxury products to stadium design. The designers recently won a competition for a stadium designed to look like a Mexican volcano. The cloud-like structure on the top is made of stretched fabric to protect the spectators from the elements. It will also serve as a projection screen for advertisements. WMMNA adds: “The rest of the stadium disappear into a hollowed-out hill—or a volcano. The duo also plans to hide the parking inside the volcano. This way, when there is no match, the outside of the stadium becomes a big grassy park where families can picnic and players can train.” In an interview for Interior Design, the designers had a gem of a statement to describe their underlying inspiration:
“These days, architects and engineers tend to feel you must be able to see how a building works. For us, it’s the opposite—it’s better if you can’t understand how everything holds together. That’s the magic.”
by Patrix | on Wednesday, April 13th, 2005 at 8:00 pm | 
Art and Architecture . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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April 15th, 2005 at 5:27 am reply
The University of Michigan football stadium is a step towards what you describe in this post. The field is sunk in the ground. So, from outside, it doesn’t seem like the stadium is big, but, more than half of its height is below ground level. Don’t know if this photo will give you an idea of its dimensions. It seats 112000 people; Largest football arena in US.
April 15th, 2005 at 10:52 am reply
Parag - Nice photo! Had seen it earlier on your blog. Sinking the stadium inside is a nice technique, I still would prefer the grassy inclines of the “volcano” stadium.
April 16th, 2005 at 5:45 pm reply
The stadium is actually being built in my hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico by one of the most important/powerful businessmen, Jorge Vergara. You may remember him as the executive producer of the Mexican film “Y tu mama tambien.” Recently he has embarked on a cultural project, planning to build not only this stadium (he owns the soccer team Chivas), but a museum, art galleries, a mall, among others in the same area of the city. He wants to make Guadalajara a cultural landmark in Latin America. Most people are skeptical about his plans, but only time will tell.
April 17th, 2005 at 7:56 pm reply
Charlangas - Great to know that you live in the same city. I would love it if you can send me more pictures. Check your email.