Architecture studio MAD Architects has completed a sinuous concrete stadium embedded into the ground and covered in grass roofs in Quzhou, China.
Conceived as "a piece of land art", the 33,731-square-metre stadium will seat 30,000 people. Its interior, described by MAD Architects as "crater-like," has undulating seating that was designed to follow that of the surrounding landscape.
MAD Architects has created the Quzhou Stadium in China
Seating in various green hues also references the surrounding hills and is designed to contrast the stadium's white canopy.
Located in Quzhou, a city 400 kilometres southwest of Shanghai that is surrounded by forests, Quzhou Stadium is at the centre of the Quzhou Sports Park, which is currently under construction and will span close to 700,000 square metres. Much of the building is located underground
It will be "the largest earth-sheltered complex in the world," said MAD Architects, the studio led by architect Ma Yansong.
While it is partly sunk into the ground, Quzhou Stadium's shape was created in reference to a mountain ridge that can be seen from the site and also nods to more far-away places.
"Its landscape evokes those of planets imagined by visionary science fiction authors," the studio said.
Wood-grained concrete sheets were used for the interior
The stadium has a sloping facade with nine entrances and is supported by 60 columns made from locally-produced concrete.
MAD designed the entrances t...