A facade of light. Illuminated with different colours (white-blue or red-white), in a way that lets one know which team is playing, a little like a gigantic crystal LED screen. This is the basic idea for Munich’s new soccer stadium - Allianz Arena, named for the insurance company sponsor until 2021 – which is to rise in the Fröttmaning area. The project was designed by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the team of Swiss architects who already completed the building for the Goetz art collection in Munich; and who, on February 8, won the design competition launched last August, beating out the German studio Gerkan and Volkwin Mang of Hamburg in the finals.
Work on the soccer arena, which will have a capacity of 66,000 spectators, should begin in the autumn of 2002 and be completed by the summer of 2005. Covering the budget will be, in equal parts, the city’s two sports teams: FC Bayern München e TSV 1860 München.
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