Comments update: readers are reacting to Japan's selecting of Kengo Kuma's wooden design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium and Zaha Hadid's controversial decision to speak out against it.
Kuma karma: Kengo Kuma's latticed wood design, which saw off competition from fellow Japanese architect Toyo Ito, has been praised by some commenters and described as boring by others.
"I know Hadid's stadium was over budget but it was something special," wrote Jordan, referring to the Hadid design that was scrapped by the government in July. "Japan could have shown it off, but the selected stadium is, in a word, ordinary."
"Japan lacks ambition," added a guest commenter. "The nation has revealed itself to be conformist." Not so, countered James Maxwell who thought Kuma should have won the competition in the first place. Regular contributor JayCee said the Japanese architect's proposal better expressed the country's architectural heritage. Read the comments on this story »

Starchitect Wars: Hadid reacted to Kuma's win by accusing Japanese authorities and architects of colluding against her competition-winning design. She went on to say Kuma's scheme shared "remarkable similarities" to hers. Readers didn't entirely agree.
"To the regular eye there aren't obvious similarities, so she just looks foolish for calling them out," pointed out Roberto Sideris. "The 'stadium layout and our seating bowl configurat...