In the days leading up to the long-awaited 2014 World Cup, protests ravaged the streets of Brazil . And even though many factors contributed to civil unrest, one of them was definitely the unforeseen consequences of FIFA’s influence over the country. For example, what’s going to happen to the 12 enormous stadiums after the fans and players leave? Can any of them be repurposed or reused to improve the country or were they all just a really expensive displays that will cost tons of money to maintain?
Enter Casa Futebol. Designed by 2 French architects of 1Week1Project, the project is an attempt to recycle some of the soccer stadiums into modular housing units. The need for affordable housing in Brazil is, without a doubt, reason enough to make this idea a reality… but unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Before the stadiums were built, it would have been a great idea to consider some of these design questions – if they had a planned to reuse them for housing, the transition would have been in the blueprints already – but hindsight is 20/20, huh?
Some of the temporary stadiums are going to be torn down, others have the potential to become public parks, a few will be reused for the 2016 Olympics and still other plans intend to use the stadiums as venues for events, which means they can still bring in revenue. The verdict is still out, but the whole concept raises tons of intersting questions about massive architectural events and their aftermath. Think back to the original World’s fair phenomenon and how those cities repurposed their creations… great coffee table convos, if you ask me.
What do you think about the Casa Futebol project? Do you have any other ideas for reusing the World Cup stadiums?
Photo Source: inhabitat, 1Week1Project
