SAP GARDEN MUNICH

One of the first projects to inspire our approach was SAP Garden, in Munich, by 3XN Architects (Figure 57) The obvious relationship it had with our park-like context helped us to explore how the building program would relate, at first, with its context, and then also with the topography. In SAP Garden, the multipurpose Arena (for Hockey and Basketball) takes advantage of the topography to create separated entrances, splitting the flows of spectators, players, and staff (Figure 58 and Figure 59). This division of entrances creates a more liveable portion of the Arena, where spectators and the community can enjoy a cafè and other uses in daily life. On game days, the spectators have direct access to both levels: the lower stands, are level with the street; the upper stands are leveled with the hill created in the park.

In an agreement among private and public stakeholders, SAP Garden was designed for 8,000 hours of use per year, proposing a frank dialogue with the community. This will catalyze its use for skating and other activities on non-event days by clubs, schools, and the general public.

SAP Garden was also considered when distributing the functions across the building. Placing VIPs, restaurants, and TV zone in upper levels, leaving the public uses on the ground floor, the fields in the underground level, and the technical below it are characteristics taken into consideration when designing in Santa Giulia.

Palasport Torino

The Palasport Torino is the Ice Hockey Arena built for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino (Figure 62). It was designed by Arata Isozaki and Arup and shows some interesting programmatic characteristics that can be an inspiration for Arena designers. The most impressive characteristic is certainly the concept of flexibility. To allow the most diverse configurations of the field possible, Isozaki presents a system of elevating platforms, displaceable stands, and telescopic seats that makes possible completely different kinds of arrangements. Figure 61 shows in the left the configuration for hockey games, Going to the right, we see how the telescopic seats can be folded to open space in the underground level for sports with bigger fields. Then, the plane of the field can be elevated and leveled with the ground floor to host bigger events. Finally, the stands can be displaced and open space for uses and big conferences,