Stadium build thread

[dead_poet]

The Minnesota Vikings revealed the proposed design of their new stadium Monday night and, as promised, it included a fixed roof with "operable" doors and transparent technology designed to give a very Minnesota outdoor "feel" within a climate-controlled environment.

There's a photo embedded at the top of this post, but you can also look through a photo gallery on vikings.com or over at 1500ESPN.com.

The features include what the team said is the largest transparent roof in the world via the first clear ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) usage in a U.S. stadium. It will also have the "largest glass pivoting doors in the world," the team said. The doors will open to the west plaza and, presumably, the Minneapolis skyline. Skyways will connect the stadium to downtown parking and other buildings.

Many of you are looking for an immediate reaction to the design. I know less about engineering, architecture and design than I do football. I'm not big into aesthetics. I barely know how to wear matching clothes. Honestly, the first thing I thought of was the Fortess of Solitude, but that's more a comment on my limited reference points than the design itself.

But from a functional standpoint, the Vikings appear to have accomplished their goal of providing an outdoor element and feel without splurging on a retractable roof that likely would have been closed for more than half of the team's games. And as many of you have noted, the sloped roof is good for snow removal. (Come on, have some fun!)

Competitively, I'll be interested to know how crowd noise reverberates off an ETFE roof, and how loud the stadium will be when the doors are closed versus open. It's impossible to predict how new technology will perform.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for October 2013.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... ice-palace

[PotGoblin]

great closing by paul allen

[petev_sj]

I like it, inspired by Superman's Fortress of Solitude. It definitely will stick-out compared to other Downtown structures.

[King James]

The inside looks very nice, on sunny days the roof still allows some sunlight to get into the stadium. And I bet it looks even sweeter at night. I will definitely be saving some money to come to the opening game at the new stadium.

[bigskyeric]

Love it. Every retractable roofed stadium in the league lacks good natural light. This stadium will have the greatest natural light of any roofed stadium on earth, it will retain the 'Loud' we all feared would be lost, and will connect the rest of downtown to the 'other' end of the city.

[Eli]

Love it. Every retractable roofed stadium in the league lacks good natural light. This stadium will have the greatest natural light of any roofed stadium on earth

Perhaps. My bet is that they'll still have all of the lights on at high noon on a clear day.

[bigskyeric]

Perhaps. My bet is that they'll still have all of the lights on at high noon on a clear day.

Probably. They stated this stadium could be louder than the dome. I hope that is true, and i hope they continue to amplify the noise through the sound system...aimed directly at the opponents.

[Demi]

Perhaps. My bet is that they'll still have all of the lights on at high noon on a clear day.

To try and eliminate all the shadows that thing is going to throw all over the place!

[PacificNorseWest]

Works for me.

[vikeinmontana]

did they say about what capacity this baby is gonna have?

[ranskal]

I like it! I hope to make it up there someday to see a game!

[OJVIKE]

what a waste....this stadium sux....looks like it should say come in buy some flowers....and a bmw.....and it only hold 65,000 that keeps it out of super bowl running....i believe you need 72,000 to host a superbowl....imo....this is a failure.

[Demi]

what a waste....this stadium sux....looks like it should say come in buy some flowers....and a bmw.....and it only hold 65,000 that keeps it out of super bowl running....i believe you need 72,000 to host a superbowl....imo....this is a failure.

haha! Yeah, definitely get the flowers and a BMW feel.

Kinda reminds me of half a stadium, and half a green house.

But that's how we do it here. Half ####. Even something as simple as a retractable roof becomes revolving walls.

Maybe they went over budget half way through and found a buy one girder get one giant pane of glass free special somewhere.

[Purple Domination]

what a waste....this stadium sux....looks like it should say come in buy some flowers....and a bmw.....and it only hold 65,000 that keeps it out of super bowl running....i believe you need 72,000 to host a superbowl....imo....this is a failure.

Wonder if it is expandable to 72k? I find it hard to believe the Vikings and the State of Minnesota would spend $1B on a venue incapable of hosting the Super Bowl.

From a design aspect, I love it. Very cool and I think the natural light will give it a great feel. Imagine being in there during a snow storm!

[Purple Domination]

From looking at the aerial I think it kind of looks like a Viking ship