JOHANNESBURG - Soccer City Stadium (91,141)

[Durbsboi]

yes we quote the pic's from the other forums

[GunnerJacket]

Originally Posted by cthighflyer

Gonna be one of the top 10 stadiums in the world

Originally Posted by t-bang!

EXACTLY!

Originally Posted by Tico_ES

yeah! for sure!

Don't get me wrong as I think it's a lovely facility, but I'm beginning to think there are about 50 "Top 10 Stadiums in the World!" Seriously, it seems every new facility of modest to large size gets this billing. So I ask, not to play devil's advocate but merely to help me understand what others are seeing: What makes this stadium so great for you?

I agree that in general form it's perhaps as good a super-large football stadium we'll find. No track but still FIFA's unholy space between the pitch and the fans. I'm still underwhelmed by the exterior, however, even respecting the local art and culture that influenced the cladding. Maybe I'm confused because it seems many fans arbitrarily swing between calling one design unoriginal and yet a variant of a common design "one of the best!"

My gut reaction to this facility is: Big, clean and crisp, another "shell" like Allianz and Valencia, lacking dynamism and a signature element (exterior) that's only nominally exciting. It will be supremely functional, look nice and probably do it's job very efficiently, but whereas the Bird's Nest made an attempt at architectural boldness, this comes across as rather meek. (Granted, I'm sure cost played a large part in that.)

Like I said, I like it and can't wait to see it in use but I'm not prepared to put it on a pedestal, yet. Would like to hear countering opinions, though.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by GunnerJacket

Don't get me wrong as I think it's a lovely facility, but I'm beginning to think there are about 50 "Top 10 Stadiums in the World!" Seriously, it seems every new facility of modest to large size gets this billing. So I ask, not to play devil's advocate but merely to help me understand what others are seeing: What makes this stadium so great for you?

I agree that in general form it's perhaps as good a super-large football stadium we'll find. No track but still FIFA's unholy space between the pitch and the fans. I'm still underwhelmed by the exterior, however, even respecting the local art and culture that influenced the cladding. Maybe I'm confused because it seems many fans arbitrarily swing between calling one design unoriginal and yet a variant of a common design "one of the best!"

My gut reaction to this facility is: Big, clean and crisp, another "shell" like Allianz and Valencia, lacking dynamism and a signature element (exterior) that's only nominally exciting. It will be supremely functional, look nice and probably do it's job very efficiently, but whereas the Bird's Nest made an attempt at architectural boldness, this comes across as rather meek. (Granted, I'm sure cost played a large part in that.)

Like I said, I like it and can't wait to see it in use but I'm not prepared to put it on a pedestal, yet. Would like to hear countering opinions, though.

"boldness" is an opinion. im not a fan of the birds nest. i saw 2 or 3 other designs during the design competition that i think were better. i think its a creative way of wrapping up a stadium, waste of steel if you ask me, but im not a fan.

soccer city is not an architectural breakthrough but im just glad it doesnt resemble a big shopping centre ala wembley stadium.

[jean1991]

Great stadium, my personal favorites of all the new soccer stadiums being built.

[GunnerJacket]

Originally Posted by Mo Rush

"boldness" is an opinion.

Much less so than calling it great, but we'd be debating semantics here. At the least, the vision and engineering was indeed a bold departure from conventional form. More importantly...

im not a fan of the birds nest. i saw 2 or 3 other designs during the design competition that i think were better.

I'm on record on these boards saying the same, that as a whole the Birds Nest was not a fully explored/realized theme. At least there I saw the originality and what people were excited about. I'm just trying to learn the same for this one, at least in regards to the more lofty praise.

[Mo Rush]

yip. soccer city isnt breakthrough. its just a large, outstanding structure for football, that has a significant history and symbolism for south africa. its complete rebuild is quite monumental given the part it played in our footballing history.

[sollo]

Fantastic

[VelesHomais]

Wonderful arena

[cichy87]

yeah, its great

[PejatBR]

Impressive !

[Durbsboi]

& its still growing

[cazorliax]

Its amazing, its totally worthy of a World Cup Final but there's only one problem with it..........WHY???? why do they have to name it SOCCER CITY , am i the only person who hates the word soccer???? i mean its FOOTBALL for christ sake, only the people from the US call it soccer and i cant stand it, plus it sounds like sucker............anyway besides that horrible name its an amazingly beautifull stadium.

[bing222]

Lovely stadium

[krzysiu_]

Cool stadium imo

[KingmanIII]

Originally Posted by cazorliax

...but there's only one problem with it..........WHY???? why do they have to name it SOCCER CITY , am i the only person who hates the word soccer???? i mean its FOOTBALL for christ sake, only the people from the US call it soccer and i cant stand it, plus it sounds like sucker............

Uhh, probably because South Africans call it soccer, too, as do Canucks, Aussies, Kiwis, Irish, Puerto Ricans and Pacific Islanders.

[AUS4EVER]

WOW!

[AUS4EVER]

It reminds me of the proposed Perth stadium.

[cazorliax]

Originally Posted by KingmanIII

Uhh, probably because South Africans call it soccer, too, as do Canucks, Aussies, Kiwis, Irish, Puerto Ricans and Pacific Islanders.

Sorry men, i dont know where did you get that info but neither the Irish nor the Puerto Ricans call it Soccer and even do South African people call it soccer this is an international tournament ruled by FIFA, and even the US people called it Football on every oficial post on World Cup 94

[piraB4L]

Amazing!!

[CharlieP]

Originally Posted by cazorliax

Sorry men, i dont know where did you get that info but neither the Irish nor the Puerto Ricans call it Soccer and even do South African people call it soccer this is an international tournament ruled by FIFA, and even the US people called it Football on every oficial post on World Cup 94

Gaelic football fans in Ireland call it soccer, and rugby fans in South Africa call it soccer, since they follow a different kind of football. You do realise there are different kinds of football, don't you?