Berlin Olympic Stadium

By Francesco Pagliari - 8 January 2010

Located in Berlin’s western Grunewald neighbourhood, the Olympic Stadium is an acknowledged historic monument. A horse racing track at the beginning of the 20th century, it was already celebrated as an urban landmark and well connected to the city by the underground railway system. Preparations for the Olympics of 1916 saw it transformed into an Olympic Stadium – never used, however, on account of the outbreak of the First World War. The stadium underwent further transformation, hosting Hilter’s 1936 Games and becoming part of the nazi propaganda machine.
Given the stadium’s history, any modernisation to meet today’s needs, comply with sports regulations, and cater for a wide range of high-impact non-sporting or sporting events (including the world football cup), also had to envisage preservation.
The stadium is the focal point of the whole complex, the central node of a functional and visual east-west and north-south grid linking facilities like the Olympic swimming pool, entrances and the monumental Marathon Gate designed by Werner March for the 1936 Olympics. Von Gerkan, Marg and Partner have been careful to preserve the architectural features of the original structure. Services and facilities, like parking spaces and special stadium access areas, have all been placed underground outside the immediate stadium perimeter. Inside the stadium, the first job was to make a detailed assessment of the reinforced concrete structure and its viability to hold up the roof, upgrading where necessary. The central stands were renovated and accessory catering and meeting room functions added. Athletes’ facilities were thoroughly modernised. The stadium’s external façades and monumental columns were restored and the original cladding materials of fossil embedded limestone and Travertine preserved. Before de-construction, an accurate record of the condition and place of each stone was made to ensure they were put back exactly in the same position. Inside, the lower...