Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
Avid football fans around the world eagerly await the opening of the FIFA World Cup on June 11th, 2010, less than three days away. South Africa plays the host country of the 19th World Cup tournament, having beaten nations such as Morocco and Egypt in the bidding process. Five new stadiums were built to accommodate the 32 teams that will compete. Of the five new stadiums, the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban has the largest capacity at 70,000 spectators.
Roy Zipstein traveled to the port city to capture the magnitude of the multi-use stadium. The soaring arch runs 350m long and and 106m high above the pitch. Symbolically, the arch represents a divided nation becoming united. The design was also inspired by the South African flag. Construction began in 2007 and was completed November, 2009, lead by the consulting German architectural firm von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp). The Ibhola Lethu Consortium (ILC) was responsible for the design and project management of the stadium. Schlaic, Bergermann und Partner (sbp) served as conceptual structural engineers. 32 South African architectural firms were also enlisted.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
The first World Cup match to be played at the stadium is on June 13th, 2010 at 20:30, Germany versus Australia in Group D. The Moses Mabhida Stadium will also host a semi-final match on July 7th, 2010 at 20:10.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
Normally seating 54,000, a temporary third-tier of seating has been added to allow the stadium to hold the capacity of 70,000 visitors. If necessary, the stadium can be scaled up to 80,000.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
The Teflon-coated, glass-fibre membrane of the stadium roof covers 88% of the seats.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
The roof is attached to the arch by thousands of meters of steel cables.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
The translucent membrane glows softly when lit.
Photo: Roy Zipstein for SPREAD|Artculture magazine
The pitch not only meets FIFA requirements, but is also large enough to hold the Commonwealth Games or Olympic Games.
To learn more about the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban, South Africa, turn to page 56 of issue 05 of SPREAD|Artculture – coming soon to newsstands and bookstores around you.
