National Stadium architects return fire, say design not behind high costs

by

Staff Writer

Zaha Hadid Architects have hit back at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to scrap their plan for the new National Stadium in Tokyo, insisting the ambitious design was not responsible for spiraling construction costs.

Abe on Friday pulled the plug on Pritzker Prize-winning architect Hadid’s design for the new stadium amid a growing public backlash, after estimated construction outlays soared from an initial ¥130 billion to ¥252 billion.

Japan will now be unable to fulfill its promise to stage 2019 Rugby World Cup matches — including the opening game and the final — at the venue, although Abe insists the new stadium will be finished in time for the 2020 Olympics.

The Japan Sport Council, which is in charge of overseeing the project, earlier this month blamed British-Iraqi architect Hadid’s extravagant design for the rising construction costs, claiming only a limited number of contractors would be able to tackle the project.

The plan features two vast “keel arches” forming the backbone of the roof, and JSC board members estimated that the skills needed to build special components for the overall design would account for ¥76.5 billion of the costs alone.

But Hadid’s firm Friday defended the design and claimed that the rising costs of materials and the fixed deadline for completion are the real reasons behind the inflated price tag.

“It is not the case that the recently reported cost increases are due to the design, which uses standard materials and techniques well within the capability of Japanese contractors and meets the budget set by the Japan Sport Council,” the London-based company said in a statement. “The real challenge for the stadium has been agreeing an acceptable construction cost against the backdrop of steep annual increases in construction costs in Tokyo and a fixed deadline.”

Abe on Friday announced that the plans will be sent back to the drawing board, drawing the ire of World Rugby’s governing body, which said it is “urgently seeking further detailed clarification.”

Tokyo 2020 organizing committee Chairman Yoshiro Mori, who until last month was also president of the Japan Rugby Football Union, had promised World Rugby officials that Japan would build an entirely new stadium in Tokyo to host matches at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

“Our teams in Japan and the U.K. have been working hard with the Japan Sport Council to design a new National Stadium that would be ready to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019, the Tokyo 2020 Games and meet the need for a new home for Japanese sport for the next 50 to 100 years,” Hadid’s company said in its statement.

“It is absolutely right that the benefits and costs of the new National Stadium should be clearly and accurately communicated and understood by the public and decision-makers in Japan and we hope that this is one of the objectives of the review announced by the prime minister.

“We have used our experience on major sports and cultural projects, including the hugely successful London 2012 Games and legacy, to design a stadium that can be built cost-effectively and still deliver the flexible and robust National Stadium that the Japan Sport Council requires.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Friday that a new design will be chosen within six months.

Hadid’s blueprint has proved hugely controversial since it was chosen in a restricted-entry competition in 2012.

Fierce criticism from noted local architects, who variously described the design as “a disgrace” and “like a turtle waiting for Japan to sink so it can swim away,” last year forced Hadid’s firm to reduce the height of the structure after the government slashed the project’s budget.

Mori on Friday backed Abe’s decision and revealed that he had “hated” Hadid’s design — which he likened to “a raw oyster” — from the start.

Hadid’s work, which includes the swimming venue built for the 2012 London Olympics, has divided opinion elsewhere, with a design for a stadium to host matches at the 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar drawing similar criticism.

Photos

search icon Click to enlarge

Zaha Hadid

, , , , ,

  • Jamie Bakeridge

    Lacking in class. It is a pity that Japan allows matters such as these to spiral out of control with small minded political one-upmanship. It makes the country look undeveloped and lacking in sophistication.

    • DrHanibalLecter

      No, it does NOT “makes the country look undeveloped and lacking in sophistication.”

      It simply shows the reality…

  • jcbinok

    If part of art is breaking through the ordinary, then the stadium design must be decent; I’ve seen it only once and remember it already.
    As for construction costs, maybe the Japanese could subcontract some foreign workers to come in and do the job?

    • DrHanibalLecter

      Now there is an excellent idea. Do it the way Katar does it even in the 21 century, get slave-labor.

      • jcbinok

        I was being mostly sarcastic. However, when you think about the way corporations set up manufacturing in the lowest wage countries, importing workers (at lower wages?) to do construction is not so far-fetched. Come to think of it, my town here in Kansai has a garment manufacturing factory with many Vietnamese workers.

  • aa0145

    It’s about time the Olympics came to an end. Its lost sight of the Olympics original intention and has become nothing more than a NASCAR-like marketing spectacle at the cost of the taxpayer. No more debt for the Olympics.

  • Al_Martinez

    Probably the design per se is not responsible for the exorbitant construction costs, but designs don’t exist in a vacuum. The design + Japan and its utterly corrupt construction industry, lack of construction laborers (partly due to xenophobic attitudes), etc., should have been taken into account when tallying up construction costs.

  • Steve Jackman

    Another successful collaboration between foreigners and the insular and xenophobic Japanese (sarcasm). The timing of this is not lost on me either, coming at the heels of the Toyota/Julie Hamp fiasco, which was another excellent example of doomed business interactions between a high profile foreigner and the Japanese.

    The Japanese and non-Japanese just don’t seem to mix, it’s like oil and water. Many Japanese hate and deeply resent it when foreigners are given any say or play a role within Japan, and they are constantly hatching plans to saboutage their work and to make them fail. They are frequently undercut and blindsided, for no reason other than that they are foreigners and many Japanese feel that whatever happens in Japan (such as the design of the Olympics stadium) should be the exclusive domain of the Japanese. They considered it sacrilege and a slap in the face when a non-Japanese architect like Zaha Hadid won the competition for design of their national stadium.

    • jcbinok

      It was surprising that a non-Japanese won the design contract. Was it a no-names-attached contest?

      • Steve Jackman

        Zaha Hadid is already on the record as having said, “They don’t want a foreigner to build in Tokyo for a national stadium.” Her statement just about says it all.

  • J.P. Bunny

    So refreshing to see the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play that the Olympics are meant to foster. Bet the IOC is kicking itself for not choosing Lisbon or Istanbul.

  • zer0_0zor0

    That stadium does not belong in that location; it couldn’t be simpler.

    It should not have been selected in the first place, which raises a separate set of questions, mostly related to the organized crime controlled construction industry and LDP government officials and public works’ corruption.

    There is nothing at all wrong with the design per se, it just doesn’t belong in that location.

    Maybe the Japanese government should agree to build it somewhere else–since they already chose it–where it would fit in with its surroundings. Places like Yokohama, Saitama, Chiba, Nagoya, and Osaka come to mind.

    • Steve Jackman

      That’s your personal opinion. Are you a trained urban planner or architect, because Japan’s Sports Council judges, headed by Tadao Ando selected Zaha Hadid’s design from 46 submissions in 2012. So, they clearly thought the design was appropriate for the location.

      • J.P. Bunny

        The original design is nice, but doesn’t belong in that location. Don’t need to be an urban planner to see that it just doesn’t look right next to Meiji Jingu. As for all those who thought the design was appropriate, they basically admitted that they just picked the prettiest picture and went with that. The original stadium was fine. Just rebuild it on a slightly larger scale.

      • Steve Jackman

        The design of the original stadium was 60 years old. I believe Meiji Jingu is slightly older. Whatever happened to progress? Next to cities like NY and London, the Tokyo skyline is looking definitely dowdy, like much of its denizens. Zaha Hadid’s design would have added some much needed flair to it.

      • zer0_0zor0

        So it’s progress you’re after, is it?

      • J.P. Bunny

        The Olympic stadium in Los Angeles was old as well and still managed to serve its purpose. If the new Kyoto Station is any indicator of said progress, better to leave well enough alone,

        A giant futuristic bike helmet next to a traditional shrine would be an eyesore most hideous.

      • TomokoHasegawa

        If given the choice to trust a world-reknowned architecture firm or the Japanese Yakuza, I’ll never go with the latter, thank you very much.

  • TomokoHasegawa

    In other words: The Japanese construction firms (which we all know are Yakuza companies) raised their prices for this once-in-a-lifetime project to make even more hey than usual. But of course, they are Japanese so the scapegoat must be found elsewhere.