OMA - Saitama Arena, Japan, Tokyo, 1994

SAITAMA ARENA, JAPAN, TOKYO, 1994

Soccer arena with movable stage which creates endless programmatic possibilities

Things are possible now in Japan that seems Utopian in the rest of the world.

We have interpreted the Saitama Arena as a building that defines a community, like once the Acropolis defined Athens.

Instead of a single arena that, by different manipulations, can accommodate different events, we propose an event-box that floats high above Saitama over the sports field.

Visible from afar, the large box is a ‘house’ for Saitama.

A second element moves up and down between the ground and the top, rotates in different directions to create an unheard of quantity of programmatic possibilities, to turn every level of the building into an event-space.

Between the ground and the top, a spiral of community and entertainment facilities wraps around the structure to the roof and makes the procession to the top an exciting experience that reveals to all visitors a panoramic view of Saitama.

Incorporated in the spiral are transport facilities and accommodation for access and escape. As the spiral engages the larger objects it becomes a service element that contains foyers and technical spaces. The roof of the spiral is a park that wraps the entire building in green.

FACT SHEET

Project:
Soccer arena with movable stage which creates endless programmatic possibilities

Year:
1994

Status:
Competition

Type:
Sport

Location:
Tokyo, Japan

Program:
Soccer arena with movable inside tennis court that turns into a stage. Multi-use: Retail, family-entertainment, sports, events, education

CREDITS

Team:
Rem Koolhaas, Fuminori Hoshino, Yo Yamagata, Thomas Daniell