Japan picks new design for Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium

The original space age-looking stadium design by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid was axed earlier this due due to a row over the cost and the extreme look of the structure.

After a panel of seven Japan Sport Council members met Saturday for hearings with two bidders, they gave Kuma and his partners 610 points out of a flawless 980, while the other bidder – a three-way joint venture between Takenaka Corp., Shimizu Corp. and Obayashi Corp. – scored 602 points for “Plan B”.

“This is a wonderful plan which meets the basic vision in the new construction plan and requirements for construction period and the budget”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in announcing the choice. “In fact much of our two years of detailed design work and the cost savings we recommended have been validated by the remarkable similarities of our original detailed stadium layout and our seating bowl configuration with those of the design announced today”.

The final logo selection will be unveiled in spring next year and the winning designer will pocket 1 million yen in prize money and will be a special guest at the Games’ opening ceremony. “I believe that will be the legacy and that is “Japanese-ness”, Kuma told a news conference.

It will have a height of 49.2 metres (162 feet), lower than the original design of 70 metres, which was criticised as too high and for being a potential eyesore on Tokyo’s skyline. The initial stadium proposal would have cost 252 billion yen ($2.1 billion), making it the most expensive stadium ever built.

Japan demanded the new designs be more than 40 percent cheaper, setting a 155 billion yen cap on construction costs.

The stadium fiasco has pushed back the new venue’s completion date, embarrassing Japanese sport officials who have also been forced to find an alternate showpiece site for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which the country is hosting.

But Dame Zaha, 65, hit out at the “shocking” decision to scrap her plan.

Both designs were more simple than Hadid’s idea, which critics derided as reminiscent of a bicycle helmet or drooping oyster and out of sync with the neighbourhood. It will incorporate wood – a traditional Japanese building material – into the roofing in an effort to blend with the leafy surrounds.

“This is an excellent plan that satisfies the principle philosophy, construction, deadline and cost of the Olympic plan”. That timeline will definitely be missed by the new project, however Prime Minister Abe says he’s confident it will be finished well ahead of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.