Samara Stadium will have no analogues in the world

Governor of the Samara region Nikolay Merkushkin and architect of the German company GMP Architekten (subcontractor organization for the design of the stadium) Martin Krebes shared interesting details about the stadium project, which will be built in connection with the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as part of a meeting dedicated to it in the regional government.

According to the architect, the current project involves a two-tiered bowl of the stadium. The field itself will be slightly "raised" above the safety zone, which will allow for the best view from the last rows. In the western and eastern stands, there will be skyboxes, two-level closed boxes that will attract more fans in the Russian climate after the championship is held. The capacity of "skyboxes" will be 1.2 thousand people, which is twice the minimum required by FIFA. The head of the region emphasized that after the championship, the stadium should be actively used for holding competitions of various levels, performing social tasks and developing commercial activities: sports sections and fitness centers, exhibition halls and game zones, restaurants and shops will be located in the stadium building.

The most important decision made at the meeting was the choice between a classic stadium layout and a stadium with a semi-transparent dome in the form of a precious stone 80 m high. The participants voted for the second option almost unanimously: at the moment, there are no stadiums of this design in the world, and the unique architecture of the Samara stadium can become one of the city's business cards.

It is worth noting that all these decisions are preliminary in nature and may be revised.