Significance of the debate over Zaha Hadid’s New National Stadium in Tokyo
Zaha Hadid’s New National Stadium in Tokyo had immense significance for the architectural discourse. It was supposed to be completed by 2018 before the Rubgy World Cup. The huge 80,000 seater winning stadium proposal caused controversy right after its announcement. Leading Japanese architects such as Fumihiko Maki, Kengo Kuma, Toyo Ito , Sou Fujimoto voiced their discontent with the new proposal. Sou Fujimoto told the Architects’ Journal that the campaign was set up because Zaha Hadid’s building will be “too big” in relation to its surroundings, which include Kenzo Tange’s iconic 1964 Olympic stadium. [1]Arata Isozaki, another respected Japanese architect, in a lengthy statement to the media last year likened the proposal to “a dull, slow form, like a turtle waiting for Japan to sink so that it can swim away”. [2]Fumihiko Maki organized a symposium including architect Toyo Ito, Sou Fujimoto, Kengo Kuma protesting the giant stadium. The expenditure estimates spiraled to almost double from initial estimates of £672 million (130 billion yen) to £1.3 billion (252 billion yen).[2]Under this growing controversy Shinzo Abe, …