Case Studies - Places

So after our attempt to find good sports facilities examples, the professors asked we look for good places too.  These examples need to be destinations; places that consistently attract visitors for whatever reason.  Our own designs need to have similar concepts so that when no games or events are taking place (which currently is the majority of time), their is still a valuable experience that keeps visitors coming.

My contributions to the wall:

1. Bourbon Street (New Orleans, LA): great example of an entertainment district that consistently attracts tourists and visitors.

Bourbon Street architecture.

Bourbon Street crowded

2. English Garden [Englicsher Garten] (Munich, Germany): similar to Central Park in New York City for its attractive landscapes and relaxing atmosphere in an urban environment.

English Garden

Man-made wave and surfers in English Garden

3. Grand Place (Brussels, Belgium): beautiful buildings surround a famous plaza made up of retail, commercial, civic, and entertainment.

Grand Place

Grand Place

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Case Studies - Stadiums

Classes are under way, and we've been told our studio project will be developing design proposals for the Los Angeles Coliseum on Exposition Park.  Our semester of work will be divided into three parts: master planning, stadium design, and a detailed section resolution.

So to start off, we were asked to each find five existing/proposed sports facilities and come up with some material to pin-up near our desks.  This is going to be our reference wall, that should be used to post new information throughout the semester and consulted when looking for some inspiration.  

My contributions to the wall:

1. Disneys Wide World of Sports Complex: shows how multiple facilities on a large site can work together to create a destination for visitors.  It becomes its own attraction.

Disney Wide World of Sports Complex

Disney WWS Gate

2. Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex (Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers): connects Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive Field to make its own retail and commercial district.  Also integrates the underground public transit and the Tower City Center.

Gateway Sports Entertainment Complex

Crowded plaza at Gateway

3. Neyland Stadium (Tennessee Volunteers): a great example of unique college sports facilities and tailgating.  Makes the Tennessee River a viable transportation and "sailgating" option for the 100,000+ fans.

Neyland Stadium

Neyland Stadium from Tennessee River

4. Tunis Sports City: multi-billion dollar sports community under construction in Tunisia attempting to cultivate youth sports involvement.

Tunis Sports City

Tunis Sports City Rendering

5. Yawkey Way (Boston Red Sox): one of the best street atmospheres in professional sports.  Located next to Fenway Park, YW attracts patrons to enjoy the game from its bars and restaurants.

Yawkey Way

Yawkey Way

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Football in Atlanta - A Quick Look

I held off actually posting my studies in the world of sports architecture until now, the day before class starts for my last year of school.  Before the summer, I found out that this semester would offer a sports architecture design studio.  So I decided that maybe this blog could act as a collection of my research, and possibly organize some of my own perceptions and convictions.


This post is an excerpt from a past study on mapping and researching sports facilities.  It is a look at the two major football stadiums in Atlanta, Georgia: the Georgia Dome (host of the two Super Bowls, multiple Olympic competitions, and numerous NCAA and NFL football games) and Bobby Dodd stadium (the oldest on campus college football stadium in America).  The idea of the quick diagram and mapping study was to compare how two relatively large stadiums with such close proximate developed and currently maintain their coexistence.


These are the first and last slides in a set of nine for each stadium:

Bobby Dodd Stadium and surround area.

Georgia Dome and surrounding area

Bobby Dodd Stadium color diagram.

Georgia Dome color diagram.

color diagram legend:

grey          complex/campus

red           stadium

lt. red       other stadiums

blue          parking lot (stadium owned)

lt. blue      parking lot (public owned)

green        green open space

lt. green    residential

(M)           MARTA stop

red circle  .25 mile radius

Other than getting a better idea of where to park when I attend my next Yellow Jacket or Falcons game, this study also helped to visually quantify how the immediate surrounding areas of stadiums are affected.  For athletic facilities in America to progress in a positive direction, a clear and critical emphasis needs to be placed on the impact a stadium will have in the changing landscape of an urban environment.  These two stadiums have maintained a relationship that, whether good or bad, can be used as reference for future designs.

Maps Resources:

Google Inc. (2010). Google Earth (Version 5.1.3533.1731) [Software]. Available from <http://www.google.com/earth/index.html.>

“Google Maps.” Atlanta. 2010. Google Inc. – imagery. 2010. Terrametrics – map data. 5 December 2010.

<http://maps.google.com/maps?q=google.com&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl>

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Great Article...

Great article on American sports architecture and its direction (or lack there of).


Grantland - The Architecture of Disaster

So why does America take so few design risks? "Our culture. Other cities in other countries don't believe in wasting money the way we do. In America, we think, 'It's only going to be up for 50 years, so we don't have to worry about what it looks like. In 50 years, it's going to go down anyway.' The problem is they then get replaced with bad buildings that are imitations. They're not original, they're not spectacular, they're not singular to their setting.

Peter Richmond, Grantland

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First Post - Looking Back

For my first actual post I wanted to share the college and professional sports facilities I've experienced.  Below is a list of stadiums, arenas, and domes that I've visited for both games and sightseeing.

Game Watched:

Football:

USA:

1.       Clemson Memorial Stadium – Clemson, South Carolina (Clemson)

2.       Williams Brice Stadium – Columbia, South Carolina (SCar)

3.       Bobby Dodd Stadium – Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Tech)

4.       Wallace Wade Stadium – Durham, North Carolina (Duke)

5.       Carter Finley Stadium – Raleigh, North Carolina (NC State)

6.       The Coliseum – Los Angeles, California (USC)

7.       Notre Dame Stadium – South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame)

8.       Georgia Dome – Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Falcons)

9.       The Metrodome – Minneapolis, Minnesota (Minnesota Vikings/*Golden Gophers)

10.   Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, North Carolina (Carolina Panthers)

11.   EverBank Field – Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville Jaguars)

12.   Qualcomm Stadium – San Deigo, California (San Diego Chargers)

Baseball:

USA:

13.   Doug Kingsmore Field – Clemson, South Carolina (Clemson)

14.   Charles L. Watson Stadium – Conway, South Carolina (Coastal)

15.   College of Charleston Baseball Stadium – Charleston, South Carolina (Charleston)

16.   Dedeaux Field – Los Angeles, CA (USC)

17.   Coastal Federal Field – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (Pelicans)

18.   Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park – Charleston, South Carolina (Riverdogs)

19.   Autozone Park – Memphis, Tennessee (Redbirds)

20.   Turner Field – Atlanta, Georgia (Braves)

21.   Oriole Park at Camden Yards – Baltimore, Maryland (Orioles)

22.   Nationals Park – Washington, DC (Nationals)

23.   Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Phillies)

24.   Fenway Park – Boston, Massachusetts (Red Sox)

25.   Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, California(Dodgers)

26.   Angel Stadium of Anaheim – Anaheim, California (Angels)

27.   Petco Park – San Diego, California (Padres)

28.   *The Metrodome – Minneapolis, Minnesota (Twins)

29.   **Fulton County Stadium – Atlanta, Georgia (Braves)

30.   **Yankee Stadium – New York, New York (Yankees)

31.   **Shea Stadium – New York, New York (Mets)

Basketball:
USA:

32.   Littlejohn Coliseum – Clemson, South Carolina (Clemson)

33.   Carolina First Arena – Charleston, South Carolina (Charleston)

34.   Kimbel Arena – Conway, South Carolina (Coastal)

35.   Alexander Memorial Coliseum – Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Tech)

36.   Target Center Arena – Minneapolis, Minnesota (Timberwolves)

37.   Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA (Clippers)

Soccer:

USA:

38.   Riggs Field – Clemson, SC (Clemson)

39.   Blackbaud Stadium – Charleston, SC (Battery)

40.   Home Depot Center – Carson, CA (Glaxay)

International:

41.   Camp Nou – Barcelona, Spain (FC Barcelona)

Hockey:

USA:

42.   RBC Center – Raleigh, North Carolina (Hurricanes)

43.   Staples Center – Los Angeles, California (Kings)

Horseracing:

USA:

44.   Pimlico Race Course – Baltimore, Maryland (Preakness)

Visited Interior:

Baseball:

USA:

1.       Rickwood Field – Birmingham, Alabama*

Soccer:

International:

2.       Santiago Bernabeu Stadium – Madrid, Spain (Real Madrid)

Olympic:

International:

3.       Olympiastadion – Munich, Germany

4.       Estadi Olimpic – Barcelona, Spain

5.       Panathinaiko – Athens, Greece

Other:

International:

6.       Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas – Madrid, Spain (bullfighting)

7.       The Colosseum – Rome, Italy (gladiatorial contests)

Visited Exterior:

Basketball:

8.       Madison Square Garden – New York, New York (Knicks)

Baseball:

9.       Wrigley Field – Chicago, Illinois (Cubs)

10.   Coors Field – Denver, Colorado (Rockies)

11.   Great American Ball Park – Cincinnati, Ohio (Reds)

Football:

12.   Soldier Field – Chicago, Illinois (Bears)

13.   Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Eagles)

14.   Paul Brown Stadium – Cincinnati, Ohio (Bengals)

*Team no longer uses facilities for home games.

**Facility has been demolished.

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