Press release

STADIUM 2012 conference / Liège, 28-30 March 2012

How to design major sporting infrastructure which is integrated with the cities?

In the presence of the architects-designers of major sporting infrastructure (London 2012 , World Cup 2018, etc.)

Every major sporting event goes hand in hand with infrastructure which has been specially constructed for the occasion. The stadia embody these events but, both in their design as much as in the use made of them, they are today meant to be ‘durable’ and directly integrated with the city and its inhabitants.

From March 28 to 30, 2012, international designers of sports stadia, architects but also project and infrastructure managers as well as university researchers, will meet up together at Liège (Belgium) for the international scientific and academic seminar: STADIUM 2012 – Sports Stadiums as a dialogical approach for the City.

Organised by engineer-architects at the University of Liège’s Faculty of Applied Sciences, the seminar is inscribed in the IAKS programme (International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities) and the IUA (International Union of Architects Sport & Leisure Group).

The seminar also benefits from the personal patronage of Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee.

A few months from the beginning of the next Olympic Games, the conference organisers can count on the exceptional participation of the people responsible for designing the London 2012 Olympic sites, as well as those involved in designing the Allianz Arena (Munich) and the future stadia of the 2018 Football World Cup in Russia.

On a regional level, the engineers at the ‘Bureau Greisch’ (Liège) will explain their role in the construction of the new stadium in Lille.

The designers of the Austrian stadia used for the Euro 2008 competition will in addition present how stadia can be reconverted after the events have taken place.

By way of closing the conference, a debate with a panel of experts, led by the Editor in Chief of the IOC Olympic magazine broadcast on Eurosport International, will precede the presentation of recommendations on the design of durable stadia. This layout of the principles developed by the participants will be the subject of specific talks by major sports infrastructure designers and managers.

This seminar takes place at a propitious moment, as the evolution of the function of stadiums in the city, their urban integration and their cultural dimension are being discussed more and more.

More info?

http://www.arch.ulg.ac.be/Stadium2012