Architect’s stadium will host tonight’s opening ceremony
Populous’ Fisht Olympic Stadium will host the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Sochi tonight.
The 40,000-seat stadium is said to have been inspired by a jewel-encrusted Faberge egg.
Its translucent polycarbonate roof, intended to give the venue an appearance of snowy Caucasus mountain peaks, will be used to project illuminations during the games.
After construction was underway Populous twice had to revise its designs significantly in response to a changing brief. This include the addition of a temporary roof to guarantee “studio conditions” for the ceremonies.
The stadium will be used for both the opening and closing ceremonies - but no Olympic sports fixtures - and then as a venue for FIFA World Cup matches in 2018 before finally becoming a home for a local football team.
Populous, which was involved in Sochi’s bid for the Winter Olympics, also designed the masterplan and the overlay for both competition and non-competition venues during the games.
Another British architect whose work is being showcased at Sochi is Asif Khan who was commissioned to design a pavilion for Russian phone company MegaFon, on the back of his Coca Cola Beatbox for London 2012.
The MegaFaces pavilion has a giant kinetic facade made from more than 10,000 telescopic cylinders that can be extended up to two metres.
More than 170,000 visitors who have their faces scanned in 3D booths will see themselves appear in 3D on the facade, rather like a digital Mount Rushmore.
This story first appeared on Building Design
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