Architecture

World's largest soccer stadium will take the form of a gigantic tent

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The Grand Stade Hassan II will be used for the upcoming FIFA 2030 World Cup soccer competition
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II will be used for the upcoming FIFA 2030 World Cup soccer competition
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II is about to begin construction near Casablanca, Morocco
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II's design has been inspired by traditional Moroccan culture
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II's tent-like aluminum exterior will help shade spectators
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II will include significant landscaping and other sporting facilities
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
The Grand Stade Hassan II will have a capacity of 115,000
Oualalou+Choi/Populous
View gallery - 6 images

Stadium experts Populous and architects Oualalou + Choi have joined forces to design an extraordinary new stadium that will take the form of a huge tent. Named the Grand Stade Hassan II, it will be located near Casablanca, Morocco, and will be the largest soccer stadium in the world.

The stadium is being created for Morocco's shared hosting of the upcoming 2030 FIFA World Cup competition along with Portugal and Spain. Bringing to mind Qatar's bedouin-inspired stadium, the building draws inspiration from a traditional Moroccan gathering known as a Moussem.

It will have a capacity of 115,000 sports fans, making it the largest capacity soccer stadium in the world. To put it into perspective, it'll also be larger than the official capacity of the largest sports stadium in the US, which has a capacity for 107,601 spectators.

Its tent-like design will incorporate an aluminum lattice exterior that will help shade spectators and allow for ventilation. Additionally, landscaping will be a key focus and its ring of 32 stairways will create gateways with lush greenery positioned on raised platforms, plus there will be some botanical gardens too. It will also serve as home to two local soccer clubs.

The Grand Stade Hassan II will have a capacity of 115,000
Oualalou+Choi/Populous

"The Grand Stade Hassan II is deeply rooted in Moroccan culture, with its traditions and contemporary expressions," says Tarik Oualalou, Design Principal and founding partner at Oualalou + Choi and Lead Architect for the project. "It is rooted in ancient and primordial figures: the Moussem, the tent, and the garden, as well as the topography and landscapes of Morocco. It's a generous space, open to the world and respectful to the nature it protects. The Grand Stade Hassan II de Casablanca is the embodiment of the great tradition of Moroccan hospitality."

Preparation for the start of construction is now underway on a 100-hectare (247-acre) site in the town of El Mansouria, near Casablanca. We've no word yet on when it'll be completed, but it'll definitely be finished by 2030.

Sources: Populous, Oualalou + Choi

View gallery - 6 images
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4 comments
veryken
Tensile structures are great, fabulous, awesome, perfect. Love it for my backyard. Except for the rare hurricane winds that blow it upwards to cause instant epic catastrophe. Surely they've calculated risk coefficient RR^4.
Jefferson Gregory
Weird claim for them to make because Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol Tennessee which hosts exciting NASCAR events (which is a sport) and makes it definitely a Sports Stadium. That Sports Stadium seats 146,000 which is down from its peak at 160,000. I think you brothers at New Atlas (who I love) should recheck your facts.
Nelson
Over half their children live in poverty, but they have gobs of money to make this soccer white elephant: According to statistics, more rural children experienced poverty than urban children, and their poverty rates are 39.7% and 68.7% respectively. (Madaar, 2021). https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c062fd81e6624f719df69be6fe04ce4a
Werner Pfaendler
@ Jefferson Gregory: You're right when it comes to Sports Stadiums per se. But Adam Williams is talking about a Soccer Stadium (the big ones seat an average of 70,000).