Last week, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the country was scrapping its plans for Tokyo's Olympic Stadium and that a different project would be started from scratch.
According to The Japan Times, the new plans have been set in motion. Construction on the stadium that will serve as the hub of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will begin in January or February, and a first draft of the stadium's functions, along with a cost projection report, will be completed by the fall. A new design and builder will be selected as well.
Hakubun Shimomura, Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, said that a third-party will look into how construction costs for the previous stadium plan grew from 130 billion yen ($1.05 billion) to more than 252 billion yen (around $2 billion).
The original stadium, an 80,000-seat retractable roof venue designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, was an ambitious project that eventually had a number of flaws. Along with the rising costs and concerns about construction delays, critics said that the stadium interfered with local green space, put a financial burden on future generations, and was unattractive aesthetically.
Pritzker laureates Toyo Ito and Fumihiko Maki started an online petition that urged the country to consider upgrading the existing Meiji Jingo Gaien Stadium instead of displacing citizens who lived around the proposed Olympic Stadium.
Shimomura said that the plan is for the new stadium to open in the spring of 2020, prior to the Olympics.
Related Stories
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Feb 22, 2017
3XN Architects wins competition to design Swedish aquatic center
The Danish firm beat entries from Zaha Hadid Architects and Henning Larsen Architects for the project.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Feb 8, 2017
Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures proposes a land-for-jailhouse construction exchange
He would take over a downtown Detroit site, where he wants to build a soccer stadium, and build a new jail and courthouse about 1.5 miles away.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jan 26, 2017
How human performance facilities are changing the game
Human performance facilities are emerging as a new way for people to attend to their overall wellness.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Jan 11, 2017
The Oakland Raiders could build this $1.9 billion stadium if they move to Vegas
The proposal was designed by MANICA Architecture and would seat 65,000 fans with room to expand to 72,000 for the Super Bowl.
Sustainability | Dec 14, 2016
A floating, mobile gym powered by human energy envisioned for the Seine River
Energy created by those exercising within would power the gym down the Seine.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Dec 6, 2016
Airborne America takes flight in San Diego
The three-year-old company opens its first indoor skydiving facility featuring two wind tunnels.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Dec 5, 2016
The Edmonton Oilers new stadium and mixed-use venue is exceeding expectations
The HOK-designed facility was created with more than just NHL games in mind, and has been nominated by Pollstar as the industry’s Best New Major Concert Venue.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Nov 29, 2016
HKS-designed L.A. Stadium breaks ground
The stadium will be home to the L.A. Rams and will also host other world-class sporting events and college championships.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Nov 14, 2016
Soccer stadium from Zaha Hadid Architects will be constructed almost entirely of wood
The architects say the project will be the greenest soccer stadium in the world once completed.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Oct 13, 2016
Ice in the desert: The practice facility for the NHL expansion team in Las Vegas hopes to engage the local community
“This design is all about drawing the community into the excitement of NHL hockey,” says Arnie Martinez, AIA, Director of Architecture for Leo A Daly.