Купол тысячелетия в Лондоне

Самое грандиозное сооружение в мире, расположенное в необычном месте, и название носит соответствующее. “Купол тысячелетия”, построенный в самом сердце временного отсчета – в Гринвиче, возле нулевого меридиана, предназначался для встречи новой эпохи почетными гостями со всего мира. Да и строительство самого здания, называемого еще Миллениум Дом (Millennium Dome) или О2 Арена (The O2 Arena), должно было стать для Лондона знаковым, повышающим имидж страны на международной арене и приносящим доход благодаря дальнейшей эксплуатации и продажи.

Автором столь масштабного проекта, на воплощение которого пошло почти 800 миллионов фунтов стерлингов, стал британский архитектор сэр Ричард Роджерс. Купол Тысячелетия, диаметр которого соответствует количеству дней в году (365 метров) – это гигантская полусфера, единственным архитектурным элементом которой является крыша. 12 мачт высотой 100 метров поддерживают скорлупу, представляющую собой двойное покрытие из панелей в форме секторов. Самая большая панель имеет размер – 928 кв. метров и весит больше тонны. Материал покрытия – фиборлас (стекловолокно).

Под крышей – 80 000 квадратных метров полезной площади. Под куполом может разместиться 40 тысяч человек или два Уимблдонских стадиона. Чтобы обойти его вокруг, требуется 30 минут. До сих пор никому не удавалось выстроить настолько большой купол. Это грандиозное технологическое достижение.

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What do you know about Antonio Gaudí and his life?

2. How did Gaudí become a famous architect?

3. Which Gaudí’s projects were put in the UNESCO World Heritage List?

UNIT 4

Friends Arena

LEAD-IN

Exercise 1. Give your point of view on the following:

1. What are the biggest and the most up-to-date multifunctional stadiums in the world?

2. What requirements should a modern multifunctional stadium meet?

Exercise 2. Read and translate the following words:

Retractable, pitch, venue, grandstand, roofing sheet, walkway, eradicate, suspend, scale effect, treadway.

COMPREHENSIVE READING

The Friends Arena in Sweden is recently opened new national stadium. It replaced the old «Råsunda Fotbollstadion»[1]. From 2007, the proposed new stadium went by the sponsor name of Swedbank Arena, but in 2012 sponsor Swedbank decided to rename the stadium to Friends Arena after a charity organization.

Construction of the stadium began in May 2009, and the Friends Arena officially opened on the 27th of October 2012 with a concert night of Swedish artists.

The first football match at the stadium was played on the 14th of November 2014 when the Swedish national team took on England.

The Friends Arena has become the home of local side AIK from the start of the 2013 season. In a referendum, the club’s fans chose the arena over the Tele2 Arena.

The Friends Arena is a multifunctional arena that can be easily adapted in size. It is expected to host multiple concerts and other large events every year. It furthermore has a retractable roof that can be opened and closed in 20 minutes. The facade of the arena can be lit up in 17 million different color schemes. For example, the stadium is lit up in blue and yellow when Sweden’s national team is playing matches. Friends Arena is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, and the natural turf pitch measures 105 x 68 metres. In the middle of the stadium roof, a 240 square metres big media cube is placed where the attendance can follow what is happening. In addition, 647 LED-screens are installed throughout the facility to enhance the guest experience.

The venue has a total capacity of 65,000 at concerts and 50,000 seated at football matches, but the stadium can be scaled down to provide a more intimate setting for smaller events with approximately 20,000 guests. Friends Arena is the biggest football stadium, and indoor venue, in the Nordic countries.

The design of the roof is steered by the geometry of the grandstands and the requirements for a circular track for the mobile roof. After this, there was a requirement to create as economical a load-bearing system as possible. After much consideration, a roof opening with steel structures throughout was selected. It appeared that the inconvenience in the form of a lost “sense of the outdoors” can be compensated for by a light steel frame and at the same time very slim roof opening elements. Shadows on the pitch from the steel structure are not such a major problem in Sweden as the sun is normally quite low at the time of the intended events. There is also an option to partly close the roof in order to eradicate all shadows on the pitch.

Another important contribution was the world-unique concept involving the suspension of event equipment from the mobile roof.