Japan picks new, more traditional design for 2020 Olympic stadium

Dive Brief:

Japan has selected a winning design for the new main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a much more traditional one, WHIO reported. The new stadium, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is estimated to cost $1.26 billion, almost $1 billion less than the much-maligned, futuristic Zaha Hadid design, which was scrapped months ago. Officials say Kuma's plan won out over the others due to his design's "environmental consideration" and the possibility of a shorter construction timeline. The Tasei Corp. will build the stadium.
The new stadium is a steel and wood structure, reminiscent of traditional temple designs, WHIO reported. Kuma designed Tokyo's Kabuki theater in 2013 and is known for his Japanese aesthetic. The stadium, which features a relatively flat roof with lots of shrubbery along the outer concourses, stands only 164 feet tall, with the stadium's track and field at below ground level. The stadium was supposed to be ready to host the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but officials have stated they will miss that deadline.
The simplicity of the design not only fits Japan's aesthetics and the "bucolic" area in which it will be built, The Verge reported, but it also fits Japan's current financial capabilities, much reduced due to a downturn in the Japanese economy.

Dive Insight:

Japan's financial situation has forced the Olympic host to cut spending for the Games, and Hadid's extravagant design was seen as being in poor taste considering the country's current climate of austerity. Cost overruns are fairly common for Olympic host countries, but Japan is struggling with massive debt in the face of rising Olympic costs, currently triple the original estimate at $16.7 billion.

In fact, Japan's sports minister resigned over the stadium fiasco, and Japan's original Olympic logo had to be tossed after allegations of plagiarism.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been under public pressure to show some pullback in spending, so, The Verge reported, he is very much supportive of the new design and said it is an "excellent plan that satisfies the principle philosophy, construction, deadline, and cost of the Olympic plan."

Refusing to fade away after her portion of the stadium saga, Hadid told the Associated Press that Japanese officials' decision to throw her design out was "shocking" and that it was not about the design or cost.

"In fact, much of our two years of detailed design work and the cost savings we recommended have been validated," Hadid said, "by the remarkable similarities of our original detailed stadium layout and our seating bowl configuration with those of the design announced today."