New National Stadium (IV) – design description

The vision has been submitted as part of international design competition for New National Stadium of Japan. Part of the requirements of Japan Sport Council was for the venue to host Olympics and World Cup final in optimum conditions. Thus the retractable seating encircling field of play and retractable roof over it.

Eventually, in November 2012 the design was announced winner of the competition. The decision was welcomed with a mix of admiration and disgust as many critics emphasized that such a design would be too imposing for Tokyo's landscape, especially the direct vicinity. Also, cost estimation skyrocketed from 130 billion yen to some 300 billion.

In an attempt to reduce price tag and ease the criticism Japan Sport Council ordered downscaling the project. Total floor area was reduced by some 10%, height by 5 meters, while cost went down to 162.5 billion in May 2014.