Sports complexes that build identity - Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH

Njiric+
West 8
West 8: Berlin Leisure Complex, Germany
On the lookout for a meaningful use of the 420-hectare former Tegel Airport complex in Berlin, Dutch landscape architects West8 have come up with a particularly
attractive concept. The "Berliner Spielwiesen" would be a large leisure, events and sports park. West8 are also supporting an Olympic Games candidacy
using the existing areas. The Park's objective: to enable leisure and sporting activities close to nature. Rather than mowing the grassed areas, a herd of half-wild
grazing animals would keep them trim and tidy. The existing airport lake would be expanded and connected up to the Berlin water system so it could be used
for rowing, canoeing and pedal boat rides. The mountain bike course, the BMX track, the artificial toboggan hill (made from the waste of the removed runways)
and a large camp site are other attractions of the design for the complex.
Njiric +: Za(breg) 2012, Croatia
Provoking the Bilbao effect and helping Zagreb become
an architectural icon was the central idea deployed by
Njiric + Architekten when designing the new stadium
Za(breg) 2012. Hardly had the results of the competition
been announced than the winning entry became
known as "Blue Volcano" - a first indication that the
architects would succeed in their objective to achieve a
symbolic architecture. The new stadium is embedded
in an artificial mountain of recycled car tires and forms
a hill - similarly to a Greek amphitheater. The stadium
fits well into Zagreb's urban development concept,
which envisages three elevations for sport: Medvednica
is the local mountain for skiing, the onetime waste
dump Jakuševac is to become a leisure hill close to the
center - and now a volcano for soccer. The external shape,
the topography of the stadium is to enable other
types of sport such as skateboarding or climbing. A
helium balloon now floats over the stadium and displays
the current score.
pulse 03 | 2010