People will be getting killed until it’s all fun and games.

This is the upside-down world of the late 2010s. A time where we have become experts at compartmentalization. What we should see, we choose not to see, and what should not monopolize our attention, does just that. We love our silos, we love hot takes, and we are absolutely transfixed by spectacle.

The spectacle that sadly commandeers our architectural discourse may give us the what, why, who, and the technical how of things, but only when a key player dies do we actually learn about the human how. For Qatar?s Al Janoub Stadium, the game plan is for the human how to be forgotten altogether, buried under layers of positive press regarding its retractable roof and large attendance capacity. And while it may be the home of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, are we really so willing to get lost in the spectacle that we lose sight of the human how"
Al Janoub Stadium was commissioned specifically for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with a design by the world-renowned Zaha Hadid Architects. It officially opened in May 2019. Today, it stands as a 40,000-seat stadium, with plans to become a 20,000-seat venue after a tournament that some critics are predicting will be the worst ever. As a matter of fact, all the stadium’s seats and facades are temporary, but they still have to be built for the sake of the event.

From the outside, Al Janoub looks like any other modern marvel of world football. Its ...