ARCHITEC TURE , DESIGN & ENGINEERING


would be no shortage of options for spectators of a wide variety of means. And while certain mega events hosted by FIFA, UEFA,


or even the Olympics may have minimum capacity requirements that may exceed the smaller ‘Boutique Stadiums’ long term goals, these short term capacity requirements can easily be solved through the use of demountable seating tiers and modular amenity blocks. For example, MANICA's current project in Moscow, Rus- sia, [the VTB Stadium & Arena] includes 12,000 demount- able seats that allow the stadium's upper tier capacity to easily shrink after the FIFA event has completed and the venue transitions into its smaller more viable legacy configuration.


The Boutique Stadium Offering Compared to the other competitive industries I men- tioned previously, the sport industry is actually incredi- bly fortunate. Sports venues are often the only such venues in cities, and are rarely forced to compete with each other for their customers. For example, it's fascinating to consider that movie theatres around


the world have no choice but to offer the exact same product. After all, the films shown in movie theatres can't change. Therefore, unlike stadia, cinemas are forced to differentiate themselves through their design, comfort, convenience, and amenities in order to lure customers to their particular venue and remain profitable. It's easy to see how this lack of aggressive competi- tion within the sport industry has squelched creativity and rewarded even the most experienced companies to design ‘cookie cutter’ stadia around the globe. These sta- dia are of course each as functional as the next, but with only minor variations between them (i.e. roof shape and façade), they don't necessarily redefine the stadia game- day experience. As a designer of sport venues that is most interested in looking forward, instead of sideways or backwards, I believe the greatest future success will go to those that challenge the fundamental decisions that most others never question. Perhaps it's finally time to stop building the same stadia over and over again, and realise that together we can simultaneously evolve both the fan experience and the profitability of our facilities. If the trends we see in other suc- cessful industries are any reflection of our collective expectations in an ever shrink- ing world, I believe this is where the future of stadia design really lies — in ‘boutique stadia’ that are more personal, more comfortable, more profitable, and just more fun.


David Manica is President and Director of MANICA Architecture. For further information, please visit: www.manicaarchitecture.com


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