Interview with architect Lord Foster on Manchester United's proposed new stadium

NicheSportMedia

Interview with architect and designer Lord Norman Foster on Manchester United's plans to build a proposed new 100,000 capacity stadium at a cost of around 2 billion pounds Manchester, UK

Transcript

00:00This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today.

00:07It starts with the most famous football club in the world.

00:11A billion followers globally.

00:14So it starts with the fans.

00:17It starts with the idea of making something which is so intense

00:22it brings you close to the pitch.

00:24Acoustically, it cultivates the roar.

00:29As you move away from the stadium,

00:31it's not a fortress surrounded by a sea of cars.

00:35It's open.

00:36And it's contained by an umbrella that harvests solar energy,

00:40harvests rainwater, but it's protective.

00:43And it encloses arguably the largest public space in the world.

00:50It's welcoming, it's open,

00:52it's at the very heart of a new neighbourhood.

00:56And then it's part of the city of Manchester,

00:59the fastest growing city in the United Kingdom.

01:02A city, again, like no other.

01:05It's a powerhouse, steeped in history.

01:08Trafford Park was the industrial heartland of the nation,

01:13a heritage which I have a personal connection to.

01:17My father was a factory worker at Metropolitan Vickers.

01:21And then the three masts, the Trident,

01:24visible from 40 kilometres, 200 metres high.

01:28So this becomes a global destination.

01:32Normally a stadium would take 10 years to build.

01:36We half that time, five years.

01:39How do we do that?

01:40By prefabrication,

01:42by using the network of Manchester Ship Canal,

01:46bringing it back to a new life,

01:49shipping in components, 160 of them, Meccano-like.

01:54And then we rebuild the old Trafford Station.

01:58And that becomes the pivot, the processional way to the stadium.

02:03Welcoming and at the heart of a new sports-led neighbourhood.

02:08It's walkable, it's well served by public transport,

02:13it's endowed by nature,

02:15it learns from the past, it creates streets.

02:18It's a mixed-use mini-city.

02:23So what makes a global destination?

02:26What makes something so special?

02:28It's teamwork.

02:29It's the best brains, the civic leaders,

02:32the owners, the consultants, the engineers,

02:35the architects, the fans.

02:37The list is so long.

02:39It's a team effort.

02:41That is at heart of the success of this project.

02:48The World Cup is a project of the World Cup Foundation

02:52and the European Union.

02:54The World Cup is a project of the European Union.

02:57The World Cup is a project of the European Union.

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