We knew that a cadre of famed Japanese architects were… unhappy with Zaha Hadid’s design for the 2020 Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. But we didn’t quite realise how pissed they really are: A petition to stop the project, started by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tokyo Ito, already has nearly 14,000 signatures.
Back in October, a group including Sou Fujimoto and Fumihiko Maki spoke out against the stadium, arguing that it’s simply too big — and more importantly, too pricey — for it to be a sustainable investment. Olympic officials even conceded that they would need to rethink the $US3.1 billion behemoth, which will be built on the current site of the 1964 National Olympic Stadium (to be demolished).
Now, Maki and Toyo Ito are taking matters into their own hands. The Change.Org petition already has close to 14,000 signatures, and only needs another grand to launch an official challenge. They lay out five basic objections to the stadium:
- It’s going to ruin the much-loved Jingu Outer Gardens and destroy other public spaces.
- The tax being levied to pay for it is “beyond common sense.”
- It’s too big, from a safety perspective — there isn’t enough open space around the building in the case of a disaster.
- It’s sucking up construction resources that are needed in Earthquake- and tsunami-damaged areas.
- It’s going to put a massive financial burden on younger generations.
What does he propose instead? Renovating the 1964 Olympic Stadium, which would cut the cost of the project in half and preserve the architectural monument too. How sensible. [Change.org]