Basel architects net soccer stadium contract

Model of future Munich stadium designed by Herzog and de Meuron Keystone

Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron have been chosen to design a new soccer stadium in Munich which will stage matches when Germany hosts the 2006 World Cup.

Construction work on the 66,000-seat stadium – called the “Allianz Arena” – begins later this year and its official opening is expected in the summer of 2005.

Seven other projects, including four by German architects, were considered by an evaluation committee, which decided unanimously in favour of the architectural duo from Basel. In a statement, the committee said their design represented “an innovative interpretation of the football stadium of the future.

“The smooth outer façade, with its diamond-shaped translucent shell on to which different plays of colour can be projected gives the building an almost magical sense of poetry.”

New standards

Franz Beckenbauer, head of the 2006 World Cup organising committee, said: “We have selected a design that will set new standards for football in the future.”

Two clubs, FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich, will share the SFr250 million stadium (nearly $150 million), which represents the second major contract of its kind to be awarded to Herzog and de Meuron. They were also responsible for Switzerland’s most modern football arena, the new St.Jakob stadium in Basel.

Both architects are no strangers to Munich, having designed a museum there to house the Goetz art collection. In recent years they have seen several major competitions judged in their favour, including the award-winning conversion of a former London power station into the Tate Modern.

swissinfo with agencies