Fans head out on game day ready to root for their favorite teams, with all eyes on the pitch, enclosed in a large venue that is separate from its surroundings. The Xi'an International Football Centre in China, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, becomes one with the landscape, with open facades that make passerby and the city itself part of the event experience.
It was a pitch in the middle of a park, basically, Peter McFarlane, secretary of the Everton Women Official Supporters' Club, says in describing Walton Hall Park, the 500-seat stadium that eventually held a further 1500 spectators before the team moved to Goodison Park. Walton Hall Park was the smallest stadium in the Women's Super League, charming and nostalgic with its railed-off standing space, somewhat isolated outside of the city, and otherwise simply lacking food options and a bar.
Located in Morocco's capital, Rabat, the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium is a 68,700-seat venue by Populous in association with Oualalou + Choi that was delivered in just 24 months and combines a parametric LED facade with a fan-centric bowl. The stadium's shimmering, golden facade is inspired by Rabat's iconic palm-lined boulevards and Morocco's artisanal heritage. Composed of 19,200 aluminum triangles, each uniquely sized, and wrapped in 70 km of LED strips, the shell transforms at sunset into a glowing spectacle. Its placement along the city's eucalyptus-lined green belt symbolically connects the stadium to Rabat's urban and natural landscape.
In Fukushima, a region still defined by the aftershocks of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear disaster, Japanese architecture studio Vuild has envisioned a structure that seeks not only to host matches but also to embody the spirit of regeneration. The new wooden stadium for Fukushima United FC stands as a thoughtful fusion of sport, sustainability, and community resilience, offering a design that looks beyond function to symbolize healing and renewal.
The scheme was developed by a team that includes AFL Architects, Mott Macdonald engineering services, Fabrik landscape design, and Ridge and Partners built environment consultants. Designed for a capacity of 16,000 spectators, the master plan also proposes a 1,000-person events space, a 180-bed hotel, a restaurant, a health and wellbeing centre, and a new public plaza with gardens. The stadium will occupy a five-hectare (12-acre) site in the Triangle area, located 6 km north of Oxford, adjacent to Oxford Parkway railway station and Kidlington Roundabout.
