Sportwashing? The architectural dark side of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar

Sportwashing describes the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing.
Sportwashing describes the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing.
Nomadic tents, desert dunes, shipping containers, and traditional Arab caps inspired the architecture of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar stadiums.
Architecture should merge with the natural landscape instead of standing out against it, believe at MAD Architects. Their Quzhou Stadium submerges itself into nature to welcome everyone to gather and share the sports spirit.
Populous has inaugurated the National Speed Skating Oval in the Chinese capital. Dubbed the ‘Ice Ribbon’, the oval-shaped stadium features 22 huge light strands which flow around it to create the impression of fast motion.
Kengo Kuma, Kenzo Tange and Fumihiko Maki but also Tange Associates, Kume Sekkei and more… Tokyo Olympics’ architecture is cross-generational and great, even if we can’t be there!
Foster+Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, Kiro Kurokawa and more have designed some of the best stadiums hosting the Euro 2020 games.
A translucent roof and verdant terraces define the massive Xi’an International Football Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects conceived as a temple for sport lovers.
35.000 cypresses, as many as the victim of COVID-19 in Italy, stand in the ‘SANSIRO 2.0 – A A MONUMENT FOR LIFE’ memorial envisioned by Angelo Renna. The proposal repurposes Milan’s iconic stadium as a silent place for contemplation, saving it from demolition.
The Quzhou Sports Campus and public park by MAD Architects in China features a stadium, a pool and other buildings, all hidden in gentle green slopes.
One day seeing trees might be a rare show, like going to the stadium of watching pandas in a zoo. From here, Klaus Littmann’s FOR FOREST project aims to raise awareness on our future by planting a forest in a football stadium pitch in a small city in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia. But far right parties on an electoral campaign attacked the successful art project.
An alien spaceship and a ‘Sambadrome’ defying gravity laws, concrete Mayan pyramids, a giant white whale ready to jump into the sea and Copacabana iconic patterns. UNESCO has named Rio de Janeiro first World Capital of Architecture! Pack your luggage and explore the best contemporary architecture of the Brazilian metropolis!
Estadio Diablos Rojos by FGP Atelier tops Mexican pyramids-inspired architectures with a roof aptly-shaped in the form of a devil’s tail – referring to the local ‘Red Devils’ baseball team – to bring people together.
Europe’s highest skyscraper twisting like a flame, a high-tech spaceship-looking stadium. a ‘prismatic’ airport inspired by snowflakes’ crystalline patterns, street art sanctuaries and a post-modern sleeping districts. Exploring the architecture of contemporary St Petersburg.
France wins the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. We selected 5 stunning architectures which hosted the games.
A demountable roofless stadium (at -25° blankets are provided), a legion of over 1.200 drones creating a floating light-show and a pavilion absorbing light for you to look into the deep darkness of the universe. Winter Olympics 2018 kicked off in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Check the most innovative designs, architectures and technologies on show.