Bleeding red when red card is given, flickering vortex after goal celebration – the façades of Education City Stadium, one of Qatar’s 2022 venues, are to live during games. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be boring for non-matchdays.

Along with the vision of Spain-based Fenwick Irribaren architects the university complex of Education City will have a new centerpiece, resembling a “diamond in the desert”. Its façade is to reflect sunshine during the day and in the evening… this is what Lighting Design Collective were responsible for. The company is also responsible for future illumination of nearby buildings.

So in the evening façades, all covered in LED lighting, are to glitter gently with very subtle white light reflexes on the rather dark bowl. That is, of course, if no event is taking place. For football games the computer-ran illumination schemes may be operated manually to follow the atmosphere inside the ground and enhance it, as lighting will also be visible inside.

As an example, the below clip shows how the ground may react to a red card or goal celebration, almost as if it became one of the attendants rather than a building.