Arena BRB – stadium description

Demolition works at the outdated Estádio Mané Garrincha began in 2010 with construction work on new stands started right afterwards. According to a decision made earlier that year, the official name had the title 'Nacional' added, suggesting this to be Brazil's national stadium.

The design work was carried out along Castro Mello Architects concept (in cooperation with German GMP and SBP), which utilised the idea of stadium in a circular form, common in Brazil. This time stands alone are rectangular, though, with 71,000 people on two tiers divided by 74 skyboxes. It's the roof and colonnade around stands that hide stands within a large circle. The simple and frugal design is a tribute to Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, a distinctive feature of Brasilia.

Construction had a budget of R$ 1.4 billion (€540m / $700m), making the stadium Brazil's most expensive. Not only the cost, but also pace of construction works earned this venue a lot of criticism, with construction work ending just one month before the opening game of 2013 Confederations Cup.