Japan National Stadium

Azusa Sekkei, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Taisei Corporation

ARCHITECTS
Azusa Sekkei, Kengo Kuma & Associates, Taisei Corporation

CONSTRUCTION
Taisei Corporation

AREA
192000 m²

YEAR
2019

CLIENT
Japan Sport Council

PHOTOGRAPHS
Aisei Corporation, Azusa Sekkei Co., Ltd. , Kengo Kuma And Associates Joint Venture

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Hisao Kawano (Taisei Design Planners Architects & Engineers) Yoshihiko Yasuno (Azusa Sekkei Co., Ltd.) Kengo Kuma (Kengo Kuma & Associates)

LOCATION
Shinjuku City, Japan

CATEGORIES
Sports Architecture, Stadiums

DESIGN TEAM
(Taisei Design Planners Architects & Engineers ) Masato Matsumura, Hironao Takahashi, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Teppei Fujimoto, Isamu Nakagawaji, Taro Mizutani, Shinichiro Kawamoto, Takeshi Takagi, Koichi Onoda, Yasuhiro Yamanaka, Shinichi Kaburagi, Takefumi Yamashita, ( Azusa Sekkei Co., Ltd. ) Yasuhito Furuta, Nobuaki Tagawa, Hidetaka Doi, Hideki Katayama, Hidenori Nagase, Kyohei Hakata (Kengo Kuma & Associates) Minoru Yokoo, Kenji Miyahara, Tomonori Kusagaya, Soichiro Harada, Genki Yada, Tomohiro Matsunaga, Tsuyoshi Kanda*, Masahiro Minami*(*former Staff)

STADIUM WITH JAPANESE-NESS, BLENDING IN WITH THE SURROUNDING MEIJI SHRINE FOREST

The exterior of the new National Stadium integrates Japanese-ness with multilayered “eaves.”

Eaves are a component of traditional Japanese architecture, an established structure rooted in the Japanese climate.

They contribute to creating environmentally friendly architecture by blocking sunlight and bringing a pleasant breeze to the stands.

Furthermore, in order to blend in with the rich greenery of the Meiji Shrine’s Outer Garden, the stadium height is minimized and the eaves are vegetated with native species.

The large, flat roof is cantilevered, consisting of frames about 60m-long made of domestic wood and steel. This world-class stadium combines Japanese tradition, climate and technology.

IMPROVED THERMAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE STANDS BY UTILIZING WIND

“Kaze no Obisashi (grand eaves of the wind)” improves the thermal environment of the stands and field by effectively bringing in seasonal wind, while removing the heat and humidity from inside the stadium through the top.

The spacing (opening ratio) between the lattices on the eaves varies according to the direction of the building.

The south-southeast side is narrower to capture the summer breeze and direct it to the stands, whereas the north side is wider to divert the wind in the winter and direct it inside the roof.

SEEKING SUPERIOR STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE AND WORKABILITY

In order to achieve superior quality and durability within the limited construction period, the cantilevered roof and stands are constructed of a simple steel frame, made of the same structure repeated in the circumferential direction.