Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron Architekten

Year Built:  2006

Architect Jacques Herzog has called soccer public opera on a grand scale. Surely that makes the Allianz Arena, which he and Pierre de Meuron designed for the city of Munich, a stage on which high drama unfolds. Its nickname, "Ring of Fire," has an epic quality reminiscent of Wagner or Tolkien--and, just like Alberich's or Frodo's ring, the stadium is so luminous, tactile, and enchanting, one can hardly resist reaching out to touch it.

Despite its international stature, Herzog & de Meuron entered the competition for the design with Alpine Bau, a German construction firm. This move linked the fate of the firm's scheme to the contractor's ability not only to build the arena, but Alpine's skill at convincing the city and soccer teams that it could be built at all--something that was not immediately apparent, given the building's oval shape (in which almost no two cross sections are the same), its cantilevered steel roof, and its novel skin.

From a distance, the building's skin resembles blown glass, but up close, the arena reveals itself to be covered in plastic cushions made of ethylenetetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) foil a mere 0.2 millimeters thick, inflated by a constant stream of warm air. No two of the 2,784 diamond-shaped cushions are alike--each fits in one spot and one spot only, a feat of mass customization made possible thanks to computer modeling--and their installation required the talents of 35 mountain climbers.

Text:  Borrowed from Architectural record