Following Populous’ recent success with the redevelopment of the home of the British Formula One Grand Prix, Silverstone, the ground breaking ceremony for the next Populous Formula 1 project, the 4.7km Velociudad Speedcity circuit, recently took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 16th. More images and brief project description after the break. read more »
Populous
Architects: Populous
Location: Miami, Florida, USA
Photographs: Emilio Collavino
This week our Architecture City Guide is headed Kansas City. With more boulevards than any other city except Paris, Kansas City is commonly called “Paris of the Plains.” Although its architecture might not rival Paris, there is plenty of great architecture, and as always it was difficult to keep our list to only 12 designs. Kansas City is also the headquarters of this year’s AIA National Firm Award, BNIM. Take a look at the list and add to it in the comment section below.
The Architecture City Guide: Kansas City list and corresponding map after the break.
Architect Magazine‘s third-annual ranking of American architecture firms takes a look at three factors: profitability, sustainability, and design quality. This whole picture approach provides an opportunity for small and large firms to go head to head, with a result of the best architecture firms, not necessarily the biggest.
Some of these practices have been featured on ArchDaily like Perkins + Will, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Cannon Design, and Frank Harmon Architect.
Take a look at the complete rankings after the break.

This week our Architecture City Guide is headed to Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter retreat. Taliesin West first made the “Valley of the Sun” an architectural destination by itself, but now Phoenix overflows with world-class architecture. We have provided a list of twelve, but there are plenty more that could be added. We want to hear from you, so take a minute to add your favorite can’t miss buildings in Phoenix in the comment section below.
The Architecture City Guide: Phoenix list and corresponding map after the break!
The master plan for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China has been awarded to Populous, whose designs of special event include Olympic Games, World Cups and Super Bowls.
The winning master plan for the international competition will see over 3 million square meters (320 million square feet) of built space added to the city of Nanjing including Olympic sports venues, exhibition centers and athlete’s accommodations. The Populous plan includes public buildings that will be illuminated like lanterns for the Youth Games.
More images and complete press release after the break. read more »

© Aedas/Populous
There’s still a long road to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, but the design and construction of the 12 stadiums has already started. We will be featuring as many as we can, for you to see how will future stadiums look like. To start, sports architecture experts, Populous, shared with us their design for the Sports City Stadium, located along the Persian Gulf in the eastern coastal city of Doha. More images and complete architect’s description after the break. read more »
Architects: Populous
Location: Ravenscraig, Motherwell, UK
Engineering: Buro Happold (structural, civil, mechanical, electrical and public health services) FEDRA (fire)
Client: North Lanarkshire Council / Sportscotland / Ravenscraig Ltd / Motherwell College
Total Cost: £31.3 million
Completion Date: Autumn 2010
Photographs: Andrew Lee read more »
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland, designed as a result of a collaboration between global architects Populous and Dublin‐based architects, Scott Tallon Walker was officially opened Friday by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, TD. Aviva Stadium, previously called the Lansdowne Road Stadium, hosted its first game of international rugby in 1878. The 50,000 seat stadium will be used for international rugby and soccer fixtures and as a concert and events venue.
Complete press release after the break. read more »
The competition-winning design of the main stadium for the 17th Asian games in Incheon, in South Korea, illustrates a new level of sustainable design in stadia in Asia. The stadium will hold 70,000 people for the main event in 2014 and will reduce down to a single sided grandstand for 30,000 afterward as a People’s Park for the city of Incheon. The global architecture firm, Populous, formerly HOK Sport Venue Event, is designing Incheon stadium with local firm Heerim Architects and Planners.
More information at Bustler. More images after the break. read more »
The global design practice Populous announced this week that they have been selected by the State Corporation ‘Olympstroy’ to design the main stadium for the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Populous has also designed the master plan and overlay plan for competition and non-competition venues and facilities, and now adds designing the main 40,000 seat stadium to their expanding role on the 2014 Games. Populous is joined in the design consortium by Russian contractor Engeocom, and Botta Management.
Its sweeping form responds to both its coastal location and mountainous backdrop, whilst its crystalline skin engages with its surroundings by day, and provides an iconic representation of the colour and spectacle of the games when illuminated at night.
The Beijing 2008 Olympics happened less than a year ago, but the preparations for the next games in London already started. Beijing’s Bird’s Nest made quite an impression for everyone who enjoyed the 2008 Olympics so Populous faced a difficult challenge in designing the Olympic Stadium for London 2012. The new stadium will be complete summer 2011 and will host 80,000 spectators during the Games. More images and architect’s description, after the break. read more »
The 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa is less than one year away. Being perhaps the most important international competition in sports in the world, we would like to start featuring some of the stadiums that will host this magnificient competition.
Soccer City Stadium is located in Johannesburg and it was originally built in 1987. Among other important events, it hosted the first massive speech from Nelson Mandela after his liberation in 1990. However, it was completely renewed for the upcoming World Cup, becoming the stadium where the starting and the final game will be played.
Designed by Boogertman Urban Edge and Partners in partnership with Populous, it will allow for 94,000 spectators to enjoy the best soccer in the world. The design of the stadium was selected from a series of concept designs ranging from acknowledgement of Johannesburg’s disappearing mine dumps; the kgotla (defined by the tree) of the African city state; the African map as a horizontal representation, which included the roof as a desert plane supported on tropical trees set within the mineral wealth of Southern Africa; to a representation of the protea, South Africa’s national flower.
The calabash, or African pot, was selected as being the most recognizable object to represent what would automatically be associated with the African continent and not any other. The calabash, or ‘melting pot of African cultures’, sits on a raised podium, on top of which is located a ‘pit of fire’. Thus the pot sits in a depression, which is the ‘pit of fire’, as if it were being naturally fired.
More images after the break. read more »



























































