Back in March, I wrote about Brian Mirakian’s brilliant SXsports session, “The New Cathedral: Sports Stadiums.” In it, Mirakian, director of Populous Activate, illustrates how stadiums are being transformed into more than venues to watch sports or concerts. They’re being designed to foster community engagement.
With that, I’d like to point you toward an article in Fortune that asks, “Did this architecture firm save baseball?”
“Kansas City-based architecture firm Populous is helping baseball maintain its cultural relevance. After the new Braves stadium opens in 2017, Populous will have designed 20 of the 30 active MLB stadiums, while being heavily involved in the renovation of five others,” Chris Matthews wrote. “Starting with the construction of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 1992, the company revolutionized not just how stadiums are built—with closer seating and architecture unique to the characteristics of the ballpark’s home city—but how the game is marketed to fans. No longer would going to the ballpark be just about baseball: now fans could expect there to be games for kids to play, bars where young adults can congregate, and a slew of other entertainment options in the stadium’s immediate vicinity.”
As Mirakian presented during his session, stadiums are “the anchors of our cities and will be reshaped as the focal point of city building, embedded into the heart of cities.”
Please read the Matthews’ article in Fortune to understand more about how stadium design is helping keep baseball popular.
(Image: Atlanta Braves/Populous)
