Brazil, Manaus Arena da Amazônia

Direct commission after study 2009
Design Volkwin Marg and Hubert Nienhoff with Martin Glass, 2008
Project leaders Martin Glass, Maike Carlsen
Project leader, Brazil Burkhard Pick, Sander-Christiaan Troost

Seats ca. 43,500
Length of the stadium ca. 240 m
Width of the stadium ca. 200 m
Height of the stadium ca. 35 m

Located in the middle of the jungle, 1500 km from the sea, Manaus is where the Rio Negro and Rio Solimões run together to form the Amazon, the world’s mightiest river.

With the design of the new Manaus stadium, the aim was to come up with a very simple but highly efficient stadium that would at the same time specifically symbolize the location, particularly the fascination and natural diversity of the tropical rain forest.
With a capacity of 45,000, the stadium lies directly on the central traffic axis linking the city with the airport. Integrated into a sports park that is also home to a sambodrome, athletics facilities, multi-purpose venues and a swimming center, it is part of the “Arena da Amazônia”, which offers ideal conditions for professional and local sporting events.
The basic design was developed in cooperation with our local partner STADIA, São Paulo and with

 the structural engineers schlaich bergermann & partner, Stuttgart.

The roof structure is made up of mutually supporting cantilevers, whose steel hollow core girders function simultaneously as large gutters to drain the immense run-off of tropical rainwater. Given the hot, humid Amazonas climate, the roof continues into the façade to provide shade and shelter for spectator circulation areas and vertical access points. The fields of the roof and façades consist of translucent fiberglass fabric, whose low-emittance coating reflects heat radiation and thus has a cooling effect. The natural ventilation arising in combination with the façade apertures creates a pleasant microclimate.

Under the banner of a sustainable World Cup, the stadium will be one of the first to be certified as compliant with the LEED (leadership in energy

The integrated ecological scheme takes account of the choice of location, construction sequence, transport routing and primary energy content of individual materials, water resource management, energy consumption, regulation and control systems, waste management and a permanent monitoring of ongoing operations.

As one of the most important centers of ecotourism in South America, Manaus will acquire a characteristic landmark that will do justice even in the long term to the requirement for a responsible treatment of natural resources.