Underwater tennis stadium: the new futuristic project in Dubai
The new stadium submarine, according to Krzysztof Kotala, allows to better harmonize “technology, ecology and sport.”
dubaireef.com
Krzysztof Kotala is the Polish architect who completed the initial plans for a tennis stadium unique and exceptional, entirely under water off the coast of Dubai, near the Palm Islands.
The architect, despite having completed initial projects, has admitted that he still hasn’t potential investors to launch the proposal, and is looking for them to turn his dream into reality. In fact, the underwater tennis stadium will not be as at all cheap as the architect says Emirates 24 | 7 “It could run into several billion dollars and it could take around five years to build.” Moreover, the architect shows that in addition to the United Arab Emirates also Qatar and Japan as countries where the project can be realized. In fact, Dubai will host the Expo 2020, which is expected to bring 25 million visitors to the country, while Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
If the spectators could be thrilled by the futuristic stadium, engineers are uncertain for the construction work not only about cost, but for the technical difficulties. Sarah Fray, director of the Institution of Structural Engineers in London, stated at MailOnline that one of the biggest challenges would be to create the great glass dome at least 33 meters wide to accommodate the court and spectators.
Currently, the glass panels can be produced in single pieces of about 10 meters in length, so it would be necessary to invent new machinery and equipment to produce large sheets of curved glass for the realization of the project.
Another issue raised is that of the refraction of light which together with the view of the fish from the time of glass could distract players. Will Stewart, a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), told MailOnline that the glass of the arc should be much thicker at the edges than in the central part, in this way it would be less bright than it looks in pictures digital.
However Fray says that the arch shape is the right fit to withstand the high pressures that the stadium would be subjected: “The arch is the right sort of structural shape but the challenge of making technology to create huge pieces of glass for a stadium event is enormous – and possibly the glass would weigh a hundred tones “.