Public Space Event Space

Abstract

Like many stadiums across the world, New Zealand’s sporting arenas demonstrate a sharply bipolar division of use and atmosphere. On event days, the stadium fulfils the entertainment needs of tens of thousands of the public at a time, as well as the potential millions it captivates through television. However, in stark contrast, when no event is held, the stadium lies dormant, usually completely sealed off to the public both architecturally and functionally. It resembles a desolate shell allowing no use to be made of the large chunk of prime urban fabric it resides on. With this, comes a clash of ideals: on one hand the stadium can be seen to conjure extraordinary levels of sporting atmosphere and community upliftment which in turn generates huge social and economic benefits. On the other hand, it is more often than not a publicly inaccessible white elephant in all its monolithic rigidity.

Because of this, the people of Christchurch are currently at odds with the proposal of a new 35,000-seat stadium to replace the quake-amaged AMI Stadium. This thesis uses the current politically focused stadium debate as an opportunity to reimagine the typology of stadia towards a hybrid adaptive public space that is invaluable to the city during its many non-event days. The design-led research establishes that Christchurch does indeed need to focus its resources on the revitalisation of its city centre. Where a traditional stadium may go against this objective, this thesis questions architecture’s role in how a reinterpreted mixed-use stadium for Christchurch can be designed to actively catalyse revitalisation without compromising its ability to facilitate a top-tier sports event.

By reconstructing the traditional stadium typology through an urban-design lens, this thesis proposes how such a typology can be researched by challenging existing models of mixed-use methods and incorporating strategies of permeability to blur the line between public and private. More importantly, tactics to incorporate kinetic and adaptive design gestures to allow a space to transform from a fully functioning stadium to a highly accessible public hub are investigated.