Recycled sports—recycled memories?

July 22, 2010 | Bruce N. Wright

Any nation or city hosting an Olympic Games or World Expo learns that what happens after all the shouting and celebrations are over is as problematic as the years of preparation in infrastructure and venues before the big event. This is especially true for specialized facilities such as sports arenas that are often designed for one sport. The concentrated demand of world-scale events requires that many cities invest billions of resources in construction of infrastructure and arenas that are designed for only one purpose. How sustainable is this? South Africa says it justifies this investment with the optimistic goal of bidding on a future Olympic Games.

Might also the buildings be recycled into other social uses? For example, the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, designed by Boogertman Urban Edge and Populous, could easily be repurposed as an apartment complex and community center. The inside circulation path at ground level could become a connecting street, the upper levels inside the framework could support plug-in dwelling units, and the playing field could host a village garden, a park and play area for residents.

Many of the 10 venues used for the World Cup games were refurbished existing stadiums. However, four of the stadiums (including Soccer City) incorporated fabric into the roofs, and of these four three were completely new structures that exploited the sculptural qualities of fabric in dynamic designs: Greenpoint, Cape Town; Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban; and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth. The fabric roofs were an economical means to spanning large distances and provided much-needed shade in the South African sun. Fabric also made it economical to retrofit many of the much older existing arenas.

South Africa gained a wonderful legacy of world-class venues in these new and retro-fitted stadia. Now it must maintain them in a world-class manner befitting their quality designs. Or re-use them in an equally creative way.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

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