Color and Tone

This is Shea Stadium, the former home of the New York Mets baseball team. It was infamously know for the color on the outside in the same way a pig wearing lipstick is. The giant dully sterile concrete grey building met with much complaints when it was unveiled. The failure of the colors to welcome the user was a major concern so the designers added orange and blue panels of color sporadically to the exterior "fixing" the problem. While the added color was a nice addition it's lack of consistence or flow made for a confusion among users as to what it was doing or what purpose it served. The light Tone of the colors accomplishes the goal of playfulness, especially when interacting with the dark tones of concrete. The color and tone of the panels don't interact with the scale of the building in a way that makes the user feel as though they are taking part in a very important event, it makes it feel more like a kids park or small scale circus.

Inside the stadium however tone and color are used effectively to distinguish between the different levels of seating. That helps people in way-finding and is a reference for ticket sales. This is a common technique in stadium design. Overall the usage of color and tone on the exterior is where this stadium fails. The panels of color are gingerbread house design and because of there ambiguity and scale it is apparent to the users passive thoughts and joked about with there active thoughts.

World Class Stadium Design

LINE

Lines are very blatantly active in this stadium located in china. Together they exemplify the Gestalt theory of the sum of all parts is more important then the individual parts. The lines by them selves add motion to the stadium as the rise from the bottom and curve around the top as if to hug the building but as a whole they form a false shell around the interior of the stadium. Its fitting nickname is the Birds nest which also represents a visual buffet of lines in design.

MOVEMENT

In this example of Movement in design the active aspect is in the planning of the design. Both the roof and the field sod can be literally moved. This accomplishes the designers goal in getting the public to interpret the stadium as "world class", I mean its roof and field can be retracted! Although I'm not convinced the design opportunity to exploit movement to really enhance the experience of the user - look at where the roof hides when retracted...

DIMENSION

Depth and Perspective are key points for exploiting Dimension in communicating messages visually. And if you have ever rode the tube to Wembley stadium in London then you know how much the new crescent that looms above the stadium adds to the perceived dimension of the stadium. It is very effective at exploiting the users visually perception and leads them to believe that the stadium is multidimensional or something past 3D. I know I've been there.

SCALE

They say everything is bigger in Texas, I haven't been there yet but from the design of this billion dollar stadium that sports a 60 year long HD TV - I'm sure it's true. When looking at the entrance of this stadium one cant help but recall the Greek's "Golden Mean" and "Golden Rectangle" rational. This stadium though brand new this year is a classic representation of the intrinsic visual elegance inherent in using that rational in ones designs first discovered thousands of years ago...

SHAPE

Here form followed function beautifully. The way the stadium contours around the bay adds a sought after stress to the experience of visiting the park. The innovative way the seating is shaped around the pitch brings people closer to the action and removed obstructed views radically improving the visual communication sports or entertainment for that matter rely on. The repeated arches along the dock one sees only adds to the sense of stability and grad-jour which were likely both sought after qualities when designing the ballpark. The shape they use conveniently exposes the user to expansive views of the bay area further communicating through vision that the stadium is "world class".

The Good, The Bad, and The Gerhy

The Good

This design is for now the one going forward in brooklyn for the new jersey nets. It uses movement, scale, dimension, shape, and line fluidly. The roof and midsection are slightly transparent similar to the controversial grates on the outside of the federal building. Its glow gives it a nice and welcoming ambiance.

The Bad

here's the same stadium in the day. Big difference. Now the same principals are going on but are not as effective without the glow of night. The movement and slant of the left side of the building looks like an angry bird, not exactly welcoming.

The Gerhy

Now here's Frank Gerhy's design. It was originally selected but has since been scraped fir the above design. The lines are so round and not sharp like Santa's belly welcoming everyone to the insides of this jolly stadium. The roof incorporates what looks like a roof garden increasing the calm and user experience. The slight slant of the walkway looks similar to his museum in new york and is a very naturally mapped pathway. It glows at night and looks like a park at night. It's scale is in a nice ratio with the neighboring buildings which have much sharper corners yet bend for softness. It's just a real delight and something to strive for in form.

In budget that's another story...