The World Games Stadium was designed by renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito. The stadium, which has a legacy capacity of 40,000 and opened in May, is notable for the fact that it’s snaking roof — meant to invoke images of a dragon — is completely covered in solar panels that generate enough energy to not only power the stadium, but allow the stadium to sell excess power back to Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung World Games Stadium

While I am delighted by the idea behind the stadium I can’t help but scratch my head and ask, “Why didn’t anyone else think of this?” Of course, Basel’s St-Jakob Park does have some solar panels, but not nearly enough to power the entire stadium, let alone create an excess that can be sold off or given to the municipality.

St. Jakob Park, Basel. Courtest ahdigital on Flickr.

In the West we have been searching for ways to make our cities more efficient and find better use of our land — why has it taken so long for environmentally-friendly stadia to be constructed over here?  Stadia in the United States surely take up more resources than anywhere else, as many of our cities have domed stadiums with vast roofs that serve only to keep out weather but take up tremendous amounts of space.

It must be said, however, that the World Games Stadium isn’t the first completely “green” stadium in the world: it’s just the most noticeable. In November of 2006 Dartford FC, a modest club from Kent playing in the Ryman League, opened their 4,100-capacity Princes Park, built by the Dartford Council. Princes Park was named “Best New Non-League Ground” by Groundtastic magazine in 2006.

Rendering of Princes Park, Dartford

Noteworthy features of the ground are a water reclamation system, which allows the club to use rain water to water the pitch, solar panels which provide heat, and a living roof. Manchester City have also made an effort towards installing wind turbine power at the City of Manchester stadium.

But there is still a long way to go: all you have to do is look at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, a long shot hopeful to host World Cup matches should the United States bid be successful for its 2018 or 2022 bids, to see an example of grossly misused space.

Edward Jones Stadium, St. Louis

It remains to be seen what the World Games Stadium will be used for in the future. Taiwan is very much a baseball country and the stadium is meant to host football and athletics. The national football league, the modest Intercity Football League, rarely plays before large crowds, and is certainly unlikely to fill a 40,000-seat venue. Kaohsiung itself is home to three teams in the top division, one is owned by Taipower, Taiwan’s national utility. Hopefully the stadium will serve as an example to those looking to build new venues, particularly municipally owned venues, in the future.

The first and last stadium we will see in the 2010 World Cup is also fittingly the most distinctive: the 91,141 capacity Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg is designed to look like an African cooking pot (calabash), by South African architects Boogertman Urban Edge & Partner. According to the official stadium website, “The façade is made up of a selection of six colours and three textures that make reference to the shades and textures of the calabash.”

Rendering of Soccer City Stadium

This is not a brand new stadium, but a major renovation of the original 70,000-capacity Soccer City Stadium opened in 1989 and home to the Kaiser Chiefs, South Africa’s most popular team.

Soccer City will host the opening game, four other first round games, one second round match and one quarter-final, and the final itself.

Soccer City Stadium Construction. Photo credit:grafikcache on Flickr.

You may have heard about a recent strike by South African construction workers, but this is unlikely to endanger the delivery of Soccer City by the end of the year, as it is already 90% complete, with the German-engineered roof the final stage. With 3,000 construction workers on site, Soccer City has been the world’s biggest stadium construction site for the past three years.

The dark line in the middle points to Berlin.

The dark lines on the outside of the stadium point to the other locations of the stadia being used for the 2010 World Cup, as well as to Berlin, host to the last World Cup final.

Unlike the new stadiums being built in Durban and Cape Stadium, none of the seating is temporary, raising question marks about whether the 91,141 capacity will be utilised consistently after the World Cup finals are over.

Soccer City Stadium. Courtesy Chicaism on Flickr.

Soccer City Stadium does not have the incredible beachfront location of the Moses Mabhida stadium with the backdrop of the Table Mountain; it’s located a few miles from the centre of Johannesburg. The facade, though, ensures it will be the most memorable stadium of the World Cup.

Green Point Stadium, Cape Town

The stadium under construction is located in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean and close to Cape Town’s city centre. Its backdrop will be the spectacular Table Mountain. Green Point Stadium will host eight games at the 2010 World Cup, including a semi-final, and will have a capacity of 68,000 at a cost of R3 billion (approx. $400M). It is being constructed on the site of the now demolished old Green Point Stadium, an 18,000 capacity stadium home to both Santos Football Club and Ajax Cape Town.

Architectural design was led by Robert Hormes of German firm GMP Architects (the firm responsible for Berlin’s 2006 World Cup stadium), working with local architects Louis Karol and Point. Construction of the stadium began on March 26, 2007.

Architectural Impression, Green Point Stadium, Cape Town

Lead architect Robert Hormes found himself in the middle of considerable controversy over the stadium when he arrived in Cape Town, admitting to the Cape Argus in 2008 that “I had sleepless nights about whether it was the right building for the space.”

Many were concerned that the sheer size of the stadium would overwhelm the picturesque surroundings, at the waterfront and with the Table Mountain as a backdrop. Hormes’ solution was a curved design and greyish tinge with a low-hanging roof, intended to keep the building from dominating the city’s skyline. Hormes added, “We said the only straight line in Cape Town is Table Mountain so we didn’t want to create a box-shape. We needed a curve and something light to reflect the city’s attitude to life.”

Though the slow pace of early construction caused concern, progress has moved swiftly in the past year.

Herd of cranes in Cape Town; 21 were in use at one time. July 28, 2007.

Green Point stadium construction: early excavation. June 18, 2007.

Construction. May 2008.

Green Point stadium progress. February 2009.

Interior view. May 19 2009.

Stadium from above. May 2009.

Stadium at sunset. May 2009.

Panorama of Green Point Stadium. Table Mountains in background. June 2009

Green Point stadium, close to completion. June 18, 2009

According to the Cape Business News, major concrete work has now been completed at the stadium. The roof is anticipated to be finished by September, and the contractors are on schedule to complete the stadium by December. 13,000 seats in the third tier will be removed post-World Cup, leaving the stadium with 55,000 seats.

Photo credits: JackySnappy2009, craig.pitchers, cyberdees, rfataar, Frankly Richmond

An accompanying article in Forbes notes the plans in MLS, though curiously fails to mention the numerous soccer-specific-stadiums that have already opened in recent years.

Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls are also building a cozy new home with 20,000 seats in nearby Harrison, N.J. The fledgling league is hoping to strike a chord with casual soccer fans by rescuing some of its teams from monstrous football stadiums—mausoleums to a soccer club playing to less than half capacity much of the time—and into soccer-only venues that bring fans closer to the action.

“The first row of seats will be just 21 feet from the touch lines, “says Red Bulls spokesman Andy McGowan, who also notes that a translucent roof will cover every seat in the house. “It will be the benchmark stadium by which all other soccer stadiums in North America are measured.”

As The Offside Rules recently noted, “Red Bull Park is pretty much a carbon copy –on the surface at least– of Austria’s Hypo Group Arena.”

The article also focuses on stadium development in Europe, discussing major developments in Dublin and Lyon and stating that “The website stadiumguide.com lists 78 new soccer venues across Western Europe that either opened recently or planned for the near future, along with a handful of others in Eastern Europe and South America. Most are scaled down models of the old giant soccer stadiums emphasizing seating rather than standing room, the better to minimize the chances for hordes of standing, leaning fans to fall and cause a crush.”

I’m not really convinced by that conclusion: given the rest of the article focuses on the economic-driven switch to more and more luxury suites and expensive seating, as one would think that’s a key factor in the decline of standing areas (not to mention the fact they’re forbidden in the top tiers of English football). Unfortunately, the writer fails to mention the redeveloped and new stadiums in Germany that have safe standing areas, or that fans in many new MLS stadiums are allowed in certain areas to stand on bleachers — dedicated standing areas would actually probably be safer than folks precariously perched on benches.

A final concern is the comment on what the writer calls the “formula” behind new development. “Build new facilities with fewer seats and more luxury boxes, charge higher prices, earn more revenue, hire better players and reap more wins. Then turn around and raise ticket prices.”

Maybe these stadiums aren’t all so super after all.

The “Lokomotiv” name refers to their role as part of the rail transport workers’ sports society, once home to over a million athletes in different sports throughout the Soviet Union. Lokomotiv are considered a smaller team than their city rivals Spartak and CSKA Moscow, but they did win the Premier League in 2002. The new stadium, replacing a 9,000 capacity ground that did not meet UEFA’s requirements, stands them in good stead as their facilities now surpass most other Eastern European teams.

Photo credit: luisvieira on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.