The sports complex is a fossil of the industrial age. While our cities are densifying and the demand for space is exploding, sports clubs are still hijacking thousands of square metres of precious land behind closed fences. It’s time to liberate sport from its reserve.
Tactical stadium infrastructure
Nike recently sent a powerful signal with the ACG All Conditions Cup System. This is a modular stadium kit consisting of 1,600 parts that allows you to transform any inhospitable location — from a beach to a desert — into an arena. That this is more than a marketing gimmick is proven by the collaboration with football club Internazionale, with whom a complete competition has been set up on uncharted territory. Today a match, tomorrow an empty plain again.
This project touches upon a fundamental shift in our urban logic: space no longer adapts to the sport. The sport must adapt to the city.
Geometric hacking: ditches as rule-breakers
When we dare to radically merge sport and landscape, new forms of usage emerge. We call this geometric hacking. An iconic example is the Poldercup by artist Maider López. She asked the right question: why do we need standardised football pitches when we already have miles of meadow? In her experiment, the Dutch ditches (“sloten”) were not obstacles, but an essential, tactical part of the game.
