21-01-2016

Tokyo replaces Zaha Hadid: Kengo Kuma will design the Olympic Stadium

Starring:Zaha Hadid Architects, Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito,

Materials:Wood,

Just before Christmas the Japanese government announced its decision to replace Zaha Hadid’s project, which had won the design competition but was then rejected because of the high cost of its construction, with the plan by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma for the new Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

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The odyssey of the New National Stadium to be built for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which began in July 2015, seems to have come to an end.
In July the Japanese government, through prime minister Shinzo Abe, changed its mind about the plan by Zaha Hadid Architects, winner of the design competition held in 2012.
After five months of deliberation, in December the government assessed two new plans submitted by Japanese architects Kengo Kuma and Toyo Ito, and finally announced its choice of the joint venture composed of architect Kengo Kuma and the construction firms Taisei Corp. and Azusa Sekkei Co.
Kengo Kuma’s plan is for a timber structure with a timber and steel roof recalling traditional Japanese architecture, which many critics say will fit well into its surroundings at the site.
The Japan Sport Council (JSC), project supervisor, announced that the contract would be finalised in January 2016, the start of work is scheduled for December 2016 and construction is due to be completed by November 2019, in time for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics in July 2020.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Design: Kengo Kuma

Images courtesy of JSC

http://kkaa.co.jp/
http://www.jpnsport.go.jp/

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