Drawing

Magazine Article

In my research, I discovered an magazine article that was very different than the other articles and posts I've read about the arena. It's an article in Frieze Magazine that was published immediately following the first game to ever be played in the stadium, a match between Bayern Munich and the German national team. The writer was extremely critical of the new arena. Below are the three important facts that I discovered when I read the article.

Facts:

1. Not everyone was so in love with Allianz Arena right away. Today, it is indisputably one of the greatest soccer stadiums in the world. However, it was not seen that way when it first opened. The author of this article sites the complaints of some critics who called the stadium "a brutal piece of nonsense" and " tupperware architecture." So, maybe it took time for people to fully appreciate the architecture of the stadium.

2. At first, the stadium was likely criticized because it was not what the German people were used to. In the article, the author points out that many Germans found that the architecture of the stadium simply followed British architectural standards.

3. When it first opened, a large number of accidents occurred because the stadium is right off of several major freeways and drivers were distracted by the bright lights that illuminate the outside of the stadium.

Source: Holger, Liebs. "Bayern Munich v. Germany." Frieze Magazine 14 Sept. 2005: n. pag. Print. 3 February 2015.

Website that Features the Architects

When I researched the architects themselves, I found a very insightful article on arcspace.com that discusses the lives of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in detail. Below is the link to the article and the photo that the website uses in the article. Below that are the three facts that I discovered from reading the article.

http://www.arcspace.com/features/herzog--de-meuron/

Facts:

1. Herzog and de Meuron are not only partners in the world of architecture, but they actually lived almost identical lives. Both were born in Israel and both were born in the same year, 1950. Not only did both choose to study architecture in Switzerland, but both actually attended the same school: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. Their backgrounds are pretty much identical.

2. Herzog and de Meuron have truly evolved in the innovation of their designs. Early on, they designed very simplistic structures for smaller buildings such as houses, offices, and apartment buildings. However, they have now evolved to create dynamic, unique designs for large scale buildings. Along with Allianz Arena, they designed the unique buildings of Beijing National Stadium, the VitraHaus, the forum in Barcelona, or Stade Bordeaux Atlantique in France. 

3. Early on in their careers, Herzog and de Meuron were hesitant to stretch outside of where they were located. The didn't immediately love the idea of decentralizing their firm. They wanted to keep the hands on environment that they had in their early projects. However, they eventually expanded and the presence of their firm is felt all across the world. They've completed projects in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. 

4. Herzog and de Meuron named laureates by the Pritzker Prize Committee, which was only the second time in history that two people were recognized together by the committee.

Source: Hypbel, Jakob. "Herzog & de Meuron." Arcspace.com. Danish Architecture Center. Web. 4 February 2015.

Flickr Photo Cache

After logging onto flickr and looking at a photo cache, I pulled three photos in which I noticed architectural features that I found noteworthy. The three photos and why I chose them are located below.

This flickr photo was taken by a fan using his iPhone on panoramic picture mode. I chose this photo because there was an architectural feature that stood out to me. In our last class lecture, Dr. Spec discussed the importance of lines in architecture, and I think this photo perfectly displays the effect of  lines. You can see the lines that separate the first, second, and third levels so clearly because they are colored with advertisements. They run the circumference of the stadium and are perfectly parallel with one another. There's even a fourth parallel line that goes around the opening of the roof. I think that the use of lines by the architects give the stadium a clean, sleek look.

I chose this photo because I believe it perfectly displays what the architects were going for when they designed the color of the building. Color is clearly the stadiums most dynamic quality. What other stadium in the world can light up on every inch of its exterior and can even change colors? Look at the background behind the stadium. The fact that the stadium was built in a suburban area allows the color to be even that much more dynamic because there is very little color lit behind it. I believe that's what architects were going for. Whether the stadium is lit white, blue, red, or a combination of the three, its color will always stand out compared to its surroundings.

I chose this photo because I think it captures the texture that the seats create when looking up at them from the pitch. Imagine looking at a stadium filled with these seats that create this texture. The texture makes you feel small as a player, which in effect, makes the stadium feel bigger. The architects of this building probably wanted it to make it seem as large as possible, so I think this photo captures the intent of the architects.

Kraemar, Harold. "Allianz Arena in Munich." Flickr. Yahoo! 3 February 2015

Video Clip

The first thing I noticed when I watched this video was the texture on the roof of the building. The silver lines glisten and lead your eyes toward the opening over the middle of the pitch. It's a beautiful feature that many probably don't even notice because their eyes are always on the field. I also noticed the incredibly huge ceiling in the room where the player enter the stadium. The lady in the video said that the press waits in the room to talk with the players before the match. I feel that the high ceiling in the room is perfectly fitting. It's an enormous room for the grand entrance of enormously important players. It's perfect.

Peer Who Has Been to the Arena

My friend from back home, who's name is Shane Timmons, went to a Bayern Munich v. Dortumund game when he visited Germany in 2012. I called him over the phone and asked him his impression of the arena. Below is his response.

Shane: "I've grown up as a die hard Bayern Munich fan, so the feeling was actually pretty surreal to me. It first hit me when I entered the parking lot and I saw the stadium lit up half red, half white. I know literally nothing about architecture, so it's hard for me to comment on much about that. But I can tell you that the smartest thing the architect did was to install the lights that light up the outside of the building. It's almost like it's a landmark for us Bayern fans and it felt awesome to see it. When I went in, I walked up to my seat, which was literally in one of the top couple rows. I could see the entirely white seats, except for the red seats on the other side of the field that spelled out "FC Bayern." I also noticed that the seats slope down to the field at a much steeper slope than any stadium in America. After that, honestly, I payed too much attention to the game to notice anything else about the building."

Google Earth

Surroundings: There are few actual buildings around the stadium itself. The stadium is not actually in the urban area of Munich. It's in a suburb, where it can tower above the rest of the buildings in the area. However, it was built around an intersection of many different major freeways so that it is easy for people to get to. You can also see the parking lot that surrounds the stadium.

Print Sources

When I went to search for print sources at the Architecture library in Battle Hall, I found that there were no books about the architectural design of Allianz Stadium. This makes sense, since it's not a major landmark like other buildings that are assigned for this project. After a lot of searching, I found two architectural journals that contained entries about the design of Allianz. Below are the sources.

Source: Metz, Tracy. "Allianz Arena." Architectural Record 194.4-6 (2006): 238-243. Print.

This  journal entry is much more information heavy than the other entry that I researched. It gives background about how the project of designing Allianz Arena began. It discusses the debate between whether to renovate the other major football stadium in Germany for the World Cup or to build a new, state of the art stadium. It then discusses, in detail, how the citizens of Germany voted on a referendum to build the new stadium. It continues to describe the architectural features of the building from the steel roof, to the fluorescent lighting that lights up the exterior of the building. The major aspect that I took away from this entry was that Herzog and de Meuron had a specific intention behind every detail of the building's design. For example, they intentionally made the seats on a steep slope to increase concentration on the game in order to prevent vandalism. They even moved the spectator seats closer to the pitch in order to create a bigger home field advantage.

Source: "Allianz Arena in Munchen." Detail 45.9-12 (2005): 950-980. Print.

This source was much more focused on the architectural drawings and sections of the arena. Although it was much longer, I found much more actual information in the other journal entry that I studied. This journal entry contained pages of drawings and floor plans designed by Herzog and de Meuron along with photos of many aspects of the stadium.

Each of the journal entries gave me a different way of learning about the arena, but both were helpful.

Stadium Interior

The Pitch and Seating

Caption: The interior of the stadium consists of 69,901 seats, which are divided into three decks, or levels. The stadium can also hold up to 10,500 cars or 350 buses in the parking lot. The two locker rooms underneath the seats take up 65.5 square meters and the video screen covers an area of 100 square meters.

Source: "Allianz Arena: One of the Most Modern Stadiums." The Football Stadiums. Web. 3 February 2015.

Stadium Exterior

A Changing Exterior

Caption: The external architecture of the arena is made up of 2,874 panels of diamond metal panels of ethylene-tetrafluorothylene copolymer that illuminate the outside of the stadium in different colors. They even change the colors that the stadium is illuminated in based on which team is playing in the arena that night. In the top photo, the stadium is lit red and blue for a Bayern Munich home game because red and blue are the team's colors. In the bottom photo, the stadium is lit to look like the German Flag for an match that the German National Team played in. 

Top Photo Source: "Allianz Arena." Muenchen de Das offizielle Stadtportal. Portal München Betriebs-GmbH & Co. Web. 3 February 2015.

Bottom Photo Source: "Allianz Arena: One of the Most Modern Stadiums." The Football Stadiums. Web. 3 February 2015.

Architectural Drawings

Two sections of the arena

Source: "Allianz Arena." World Stadiums. Spampinato, Angelo. Web. 3 February 2014.

Source: 

Purpose/Function/Users

Purpose/Function: The original purpose of constructing Allianz Arena was to build one of the most impressive stadiums in the world to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The citizens of Germany wanted to show off a brand new, state of the art arena during one of the most popular sporting events in the world and they passed a referendum to build it. It was decided that after the World Cup, the stadium would be home to major club teams in the Munich Area.

Users: The Stadium currently is home to two major club soccer teams in Germany: Bayern Munchen and TSV 1860 Munchen. It can hold up to 66,000 spectators and the seats are distributed among three rings of tiers. Because the stadium is home to two different teams, it was even designed to have multiple appearances. It can light up red, blue, white, or any combination of the three. The colors change depending on which team is playing in order to reflect the teams' colors.

Source: "Allianz Arena." World Stadiums. Angelo Spampinato. Web. 3 February 2015.

Basic Facts

Official Name: Allianz Arena

Also Known As: FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich, Fusball Arena Muchen, and "Schlauchboot" (inflatable boot)

Location: Munich, Baveria, Germany

Architect: Jacquez Herzog and Pierre de Meuron with ArupSport

Dates of Construction: 21 October 2002-30 April 2005

Source: "Allianz Arena: Munich Football Stadium" E-Architect. I Lomholt. Web. 22 June 2012. 3 February 2015.