Three themes define our architectural and urban concept for the world championship football stadium in Munich (the Allianz Arena): the presence of the stadium as an illuminated body that can change its appearance and is situated in an open landscape, the procession-like arrival of fans in a landscaped area and the crater-like interior of the stadium itself

Both the shell and the structural skeleton of the stadium are designed throughout to implement these three key concerns. Hence, the main stairs along the outside of the shell follow the line of greatest slope, underscoring the procession-like approach of visitors to the stadium.

These themes lend the project its distinctive character, while other locations and rooms, such as the VIP Lounges, Lobbies, Catering Zones, etc., are functionally indistinguishable from those of other stadiums and are subject to the changes inevitably introduced by their users. 

The stadium as an illuminated body

As a huge luminous body, the stadium marks a new location in the open landscape to the north between the airport and downtown Munich. The skin of the luminous body consists of large, shimmering white, diamond-shaped ETFE cushions, each of which can be illuminated separately in white, red or light blue. The football stadium will be the home of two local football clubs, FC Bayern Munich (club colours: red, white) and TSV 1860 (club colours: blue, white). The color of the cushions can be controlled digitally so that the home team playing in the stadium can be identified from the outside: Red for FC Bayern Munich, blue for TSV 1860. The changing appearance of the stadium will enhance its attraction as an urban monument even for people who are not interested in football.

The arrival of fans at the stadium

The car parks are laid out between the underground station and the stadium so as to create an artificial landscape for the arrival and departure of the fans. This landscape contains swathes of green that blend in with the vegetation of the surrounding Fröttmaning Heath. Meandering asphalt paths determine and shape the rhythm and flow of the throngs of visitors, somewhat like a procession. 

The interior as a crater

Since only football will be played in the new Munich Stadium, the seating is directly adjacent to the pitch and each of the three tiers is as close as possible to the playing field. The incline increasing from bottom to top creates additional special density. As in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, spectators sit right next to where the action takes place.

It is optimum building techniques and logistic processes as well as the highest quality construction itself that determine the success of such an image project. We have set this demanding challenge ourselves as we wanted to construct an arena full of superlatives and won the project against 28 internationally renowned applicants. This project is a milestone in the company’s development.

The most modern and architecturally striking football arena in Europe was built in just 30 months. Designed by the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the stadium offers space for 66,000 spectators.

Equipped with a range of gastronomic and themed experiences, a day-care centre, shops selling fan merchandise, office and conference rooms as well as a large media area, it has the feel of a small town.

FEATURES - Smooth exterior with diamond-shaped translucent cladding.

- The membranes on the roof and exterior are self-cleaning, continuously ventilated and weigh only a thirtieth of the amount glass weighs.

- The translucent exterior can be lit up with 4,000 specially developed red, blue and white lights.

- Seamless multi-storey car park construction on a surface area of 240 x 140 m. The car park is the biggest in Europe and offers space for approx. 9,800 cars.

- Worldwide unique and uniform stadium seats for standard tip-up seats, VIP seats and box seats. Coated in silver, these seats reflect different colours depending on the light.

- The roof comprises 2,784 air cushions.

- The membrane is only 0.2 mm thick. It is the largest membrane roof covering in the world.

FURTHER INFORMATION: - Construction work: Planning and complete construction of stadium

- Seating: 66000, completely covered

- Stadium construction: 230.000m² with 7 levels

- Exterior and roof: 64.000m²

- Concrete: over 200.000m³

- Steel: approx. 45.000 tons

This architectural wonder was conceived by world-renowned architects Jaques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The facade contains 2,760 diamond-shaped cushions that form the world’s biggest membrane cladding covering an area of 66,500 m². This membrane lights up at night making it appear to be red when viewed from the outside. The three-tier interior of the Allianz Arena has extraordinary acoustics that rapidly turn the stadium into a cauldron when hosting thrilling encounters.