ZEN TECTONICS.

Built for next year's World Cup, this heroically scaled sports stadium is a new regional landmark, combining a dynamic structure with a sense of drama and occasion.

Based in Sendai following a period of postgraduate study at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles during the late I 980s, Hitoshi Abe is a young Japanese architect who has achieved international recognition despite being based outside the milieu of Tokyo. His return to his native city was prompted by success in the Miyage Stadium competition, which forms part of a programme of new regional sports stadiums built to host the 2002 World Cup. Japan will share the tournament with South Korea, in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.

Abe's powerfully articulated composition of two curved roof planes recalls Kenzo Tange's Yoyogi Stadium constructed for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Inspired by Japanese temple architecture, Tange's abstract geometry synthesized contemporary and traditional influences. Set on a park-like site on the edge of Sendai, Abe's stadium evokes a similar spirit, but also merges with the landscape, its contours mimicking the topography of Japanese mountains.

The bowl of the stadium is partially dug into a hill, minimizing its bulk. A pair of crescent-shaped roof canopies curve with supple precision to enclose and define the arena. The smaller canopy converges with the hill on the east side; the larger roof enclosing the main west stand extends beyond the perimeter of the stadium, forming angular projections in the landscape. Changing, training, warm-up spaces, press and meeting rooms are slotted efficiently under the main stand. The larger crescent is formed by keel-shaped trusses anchored and tensioned by angled concrete ground beams. Truss supports at each span are all differently shaped and so had to be cast in-situ, a painstaking process that took three years. The stadium includes a running track, so can be also be used for athletics meetings. After the World Cup, it will become a major regional sports centre.

Arc-shaped pathways radiate out from the centre of the stadium down the hill on the east side, reinforcing the connection with the landscape. One of Abe's earlier projects, a water tower enclosed in a surprising delicate lattice of stainless steel, forms a landmark for the new complex. Routes through and around the stadium are marked by the heroically scaled planes of concrete that exude a brooding muscularity. The only flashes of colour are provided by elegantly lucid graphics that guide and orientate visitors.

Even engaged on such a pragmatic programme (the sports stadium must rank as one of the earthbound building types), Abe proves he is capable of distilling elegance and dynamism. The combination of Southern Californian schooling (Abe's teachers Included Thorn Mayne, Eric Owen Moss, Michael Rotondl and Wolf Prix) and a rigorous Japanese sensibility (radical tectonics meets Zen) has given rise to a particularly engaging and virile hybrid.

SPORTS STADIUM, SENDAI, JAPAN

ARCHITECT

HITOSHI ABE

1 From the air, the stadium's relationship with the surrounding landscape is revealed. Two crescent-shaped roof canopies embrace the bowl of seating.

2 Angular profile of west stand forms the dominant element. By contrast east stand is bunkered in the hillside.

3 The tautly curved roof arcs through the landscape.

4 Heroically-scaled concrete structure supports the cantilevered roof canopy.

5 Circulation routes are marked by lucid graphics.

6 West stand roof overshoots to meet the ground.

7 Inside the great bowl.

Architect

Atelier Hitoshl Abe, Sendal 

Associate architect

Syouichl Haryu

Structural engineer

SDG 

Landscape architect

Sano