"The greatest buildings in history havealways reflected the zeitgeist. And rightnow, the zeitgeist is sport. Sport is thegLobaL currency."Through the work of HOK Sport, the world's leadingstadium architects, The Stadium examines the increasedsignificance and value of the stadium as an architecturalicon. The ascendancy of sport as the new global culturemeans that the stadium has a central role in the 21stCentury city - financially, geographically, culturally andspiritually.

The Stadium contextualizes the social history that has ledto the ascendancy of sport, with an account of the FiveGenerations of Stadia which have evolved since the 19thCentury codification of sports. The new role of thestadium in the city as a tool for urban regeneration andglobal city branding is identified and document-ed for thefirst time.Many of the stadia featured in this book have been thevenues for the most successful sporting events of the lastdecade, including the Sydney Olympic Games, the RugbyWorld Cup, the SuperbowI, the FA Cup Final, the AsianGames and the Euro 2004 Football Championships. Theseevents have unequivocally engendered a feeling of globalcommunity, a unique achievement in atime ofdivisiveness and uncertainty.The Stadium features 18 sporting venues worldwide,including Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, SBC Park in SanFrancisco, Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Nanjing Sports Park,Reliant Stadium in Houston, Estadio da Luz in Lisbon,Oriole Park in Baltimore, Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, theReebok Stadium in Bolton, Wimbledon Centre Court, thenew Ascot Racecourse, and the new Emirates andWembley stadia in London.

Rome of the Carolinas by Peter Cook

SPORT IS THE NEW ROCK'N'ROLL

Wembley Stadium - London, England

Coors Field - Denver, Colorado, USA

Suncorp Stadium - Brisbane, Australia

Estadio da Luz - Lisbon, Portugal

THE POWER OF SPORT

Ascot Racecourse -Ascot, England

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club - Wimbledon, England

Reliant Stadium - Houston, Texas, USA

Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Millennium Stadium - Cardiff:, Wales

FIVE GENERATIONS OF STADIA

Reebok Stadium - Bolton, England

SBC Park (formerly Pacific Bell Park) -San Francisco, California, USA

Westpac Stadium - Wellington, New Zealand

Telstra Dome - Melbourne, Australia

Estadio Algarve - Faro/Loule, Portugal

THE STADIUM AND THE CITY

Galpharm Stadium (formerly Alfred McAlpine Stadium) - Huddersfield, England

Nanjing Sports Park - Nanjing, Peoples Republic of China

Emirates Stadium - London, England

Telstra Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia) -Sydney, Australia

Acknowledgments