Famous architect and designer of current PSG home claims the stadium should retain its current size with only minor changes. According to him Parc des Princes ages well and lost nothing of its unique vision over the years.

When it opened its doors in 1972, the most famous stadium designed by Roger Taillibert was a breakthrough. With its floodlights incorporated into the roof, side stands very close to the pitch and the concrete outer shell it was ahead of its time. The 87-yo architect claims his creation lost little of its uniqueness.

”It hasn’t aged badly by no means. Architecture hasn’t changed, the basket-shaped shell retained its initial strength. I don’t think Stade Jean Bouin will age as decently, though it’s of course a lot better than the previous stadium neighboruing Parc des Princes,” says Taillibert interviewed by 20minutes.fr.

According to the specialist improving his aging stadium is a challenge, but it’s possible. “It seems sensible that the stadium cannot be changed much since it’s a listed monument. But it can be improved. How? I’m talking with Jean-Claude Blanc (PSG general manager) and that’s all I can tell you. We can do better crowd circulation, add skyboxes, lounges”, says the French architect.

However, Taillibert sees the envisaged expansion to 60,000 or even more as a problematic idea. “At the moment we cannot touch capacity too much. It may happen eventually, but one shouldn’t put too much extra seats. The problem of downtown stadiums with over 60,000 capacity is that they’re a town themselves! You have to get people there, fit them into the street system, provide parking facilities, etc. You cannot win here. The reasonable way is not to exceed 60,000. Stadiums with 50,000 seats, good acoustics and designed properly are still better than a stadium like Charlety, where there’s no atmosphere at all,” Tailliber argues.

Just as a reminder: Parc des Princes will get a facelift with minor seating layout changes ahead of Euro 2016, but a capacity increase has been envisaged for after the tournament.