Stadiums • 2011/2014

The Stadiums series are models created for different football games. Each stadium has its own field design and rules, although all based on the rules of traditional football. Each type of game emphasizes certain characteristics of football, such as dribbling, partnership, balance, touch of the ball, speed of reasoning, accuracy of kicks, etc. The fields format and the rules of each game condition the players to favor one or other of these characteristics when making the plays.

Unlike a neutral space for the audience, circular or oval, these stadiums present an architecture that transfers to the public the spatial dynamics experienced by the players on the field - their movements and blocks, the shape of the game, are somehow impregnated in the shape of the stands, and the audience occupies different places in the ‘game space’. Thus, each architectural object is directly related to a certain game, becoming the protagonist of a spatial harmony between the audience and the spectacle.

The Stadium III playing field has two architectural elements located within its space of action. During the game, these elements are surrounded by the action of the players and act as obstacles to the full visualization of plays. The football played in this field requires a fine spatial and temporal coordination of players movements and intentions, tactical discipline and precise partnerships.

In Stadium V, the playing field is surrounded and filled with transparent panels, forming a maze of obstacles to the movement, but not to the players’ vision. The large number of blocks requires more skill and agility, and less speed. Football here is a game of short dribbling, quick decisions and precise passes between or over obstacles.

The football played at Stadium VI is a dispute between three teams acting simultaneously with just one ball. The teams alternate their tasks in the two halves of the match. In the first, team A attacks team B, which attacks team C, which attacks team A. In the second, the direction is reversed. During the game, each team relates simultaneously to two different protagonists, one that it must attack and other that it has to defend itself against.

At Aldir Blanc Stadium the playing field has two flat areas separated by a region where two curved planes intersect. Football here is played with two balls at the same time, one white and one orange. The two balls can be in the flat areas, but the orange one can only go through the upper curve and the white one through the lower curve. Teams develop strategies to separate and coordinate their actions during the two simultaneous plays.