Ever wonder who the architects are behind those flashy World Cup stadiums in Brazil this year? On Sunday, the final match will decide the champs — Germany or Argentina — in one the most storied stadiums in the world, Estadio do Maracana. The classic venue hosted the 1950 World Cup Final, as well as a profusion of other magnanimous international spectacles. As the second largest stadium in South America, with a capacity of 78,838, the Maracana required daunting updates for the 2014 games. In order to preserve the iconic, cultural, and historical attributes of the venue, German structural engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann und Partner was called upon. Their design for a large, lightweight roof structure was built low at the inner and outer rim, floating just above the stadium bowl. The scheme is based on the tension properties of a spoked wheel, comprising one compression ring and three tension rings in total. The old, outdated cantilever roof was replaced by a new cover that rests on existing building supports and is covered with a PTFE-coated fiberglass membrane. SBP has worked ...
Ever wonder who the architects are behind those flashy World Cup stadiums in Brazil this year? On Sunday, the final match will decide the champs — Germany or Argentina — in one the most storied stadiums in the world, Estadio do Maracana. The classic venue hosted the 1950 World Cup Final, as well as a profusion of other magnanimous international spectacles. As the second largest stadium in South America, with a capacity of 78,838, the Maracana required daunting updates for the 2014 games. In order to preserve the iconic, cultural, and historical attributes of the venue, German structural engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann und Partner was called upon. Their design for a large, lightweight roof structure was built low at the inner and outer rim, floating just above the stadium bowl. The scheme is based on the tension properties of a spoked wheel, comprising one compression ring and three tension rings in total. The old, outdated cantilever roof was replaced by a new cover that rests on existing building supports and is covered with a PTFE-coated fiberglass membrane. SBP has worked ...