TATLIN NEWS #41

Haddon, an American scientist, the architect developed the concept of a stadium with stands of different size. By observing how the audience tends to take seats at the stadium, Haddon proved the need for stands with various numbers of seats. The thing is that the majority of viewers try to take seats at the western stands – with their back to the sun, and the upper rows fill sooner, because everyone wants to sit farther from the field. Graphically the audience forms a drop-shaped figure. This research and the experience of constructing two stadiums in Malme and Goteborge in Sweden served as an underlying concept, the contents of the imagery for the stadium in Krasnoyarsk. Vitaly Orekhov developed a stadium in the form of a bowl with edges of different heights. The major architectural characteristic feature of this bowl is the curved perimeter of its edges. This smooth curve is supported by custom designed supports, which impart a delicate architectural rhythm to the facades. Four ramps branch from the building, straight ramps from the western stand, and curved ramps from the eastern one. Unfortunately therewere details that have not been realized. The similar size and the shape were assigned to opposite stands; the western and the eastern stands were large, the northern and the southern ones were smaller, which perhaps has made the author’s concept less unique. Nevertheless, the project has been realized, and its success has become a point of reference in search for new forms in the architecture of sport facilities. This project marked the beginning of the outstanding career of Vitaly Orekhov, a renowned architect. No doubt that a good part of success is due to the work of builders and civil engineers. In order to design and make the elements from the reinforced concrete the team had to appeal to the engineering and building resources from the whole region. The structures were developed close to the construction site by specialists in construction of bridges «Mostotryad No.7», the team that built the Communal Bridge. As a result the object

represented both an architectural masterpiece and a unique object as to the structures that have been developed and construction technologies applied. All require- ments to specialized sport facilities as to their characteristics and public safety have been fulfilled. Considerable feedback about the unique stadium gave momen- tum to construction of other sport facilities. After a while (in 1978– 1989) Vitaly Orekhov designed a pair object to his first creation, the Yuarygin Palace of Sports «Yenisei» located at the same place, on the Ostrov Otdykha, and later developed the project for the «Locomotive» stadium in the centre of Krasnoyarsk. Perestroyka saw decline of the sport industry, and the stadium was paid less attention to, notwithstanding its special status – in 1986 it was listed as a state- protected object of cultural heritage. The building has come to a dilapidated state, having had no capital repairs in 40 years. In the beginning of the twenty first century the stadium underwent unqualified alternations, which violated copyright and the special status enjoyed by the building. The appearance of stands has been changed. The concrete seats have been replaced with plastic chairs of various colours, a shade for VIP visitors was added to the western stall. The sad thing is that two cases, which claimed the violation of Vitaly Orekhov copyright, were lost in court. According to the architect, the stadium is in need of a competent professional overhaul and capital repairs. The fate of this object that once made Krasnoyarsk famous and drew attention of architects in the world to the experience of their Soviet colleagues in designing major sport facilities in Siberia, depends on when and at which level this problem will be solved.

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