The NFL’s Washington Redskins franchise has grand plans for a new stadium. The wave-like structure will have parks, bridges, even a moat surrounding it.
The stadium’s architect, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), was featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes this weekend. Ingels, the Danish starchitect, explained his vision for the stadium.
“The stadium is designed as much for the tailgating, like the pre-game, as for the game itself,” Ingels told 60 Minutes. “Tailgating literally becomes a picnic in a park. It can actually make the stadium a more lively destination throughout the year without ruining the turf for the football game.”
According to the Washington Post, a moat for kayakers and various parks and bridges will surround the stadium.
The Post also found that many Washington football fans think the design is dumb.
Also, everything about this image is absurd. Rappelling? Roller skates? Surfers? Bikinis? No porta potties? pic.twitter.com/rJam0k3uwB
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) March 14, 2016
Specifics are unknown, in part, because the new stadium’s location still needs to be hashed out. The Redskins play at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. The venue opened in 1997, and the team has a lease through 2027. Redskins owner Dan Snyder wants a new home, though, and locations in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are being considered.
D.C. is a difficult situation. CityLab explained that the team would have to change its nickname for the government to turn over the land underneath Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. But since BIG likes to incorporate site-specific features, a moat at the RFK site "would connect the venue with the nearby Anacostia River, which is popular with kayakers," Kriston Capps of CityLab wrote. "The design looks like a love letter to the team’s old neighborhood." A moat surrounding a Virginia-based stadium would be out of place.
BIG hasn’t designed an NFL stadium, but has recently worked on other ambitious projects, like The Spiral, a twisting 65-story tower in Manhattan.
The #Redskins have hired world-renowned firm BIG to develop new stadium concepts.
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) March 11, 2016
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