Vikings Stadium Miscellaneous Discussion

[fehler]

It looks like one of those cruise ships that fell over to one side. That white is not going to stay white, no matter what its made of.

[Minneboy]

I think the glass portions should be made of different colors where it doesn't show the downtown view. The colored panes could be symbols and characters of Viking lore and it would also give it a religious overtone, because for some football is religion. The colors should also give it a warmer feel for those inside.

[writruth]

Love the aerial view rendering, not selected, submitted by Populous. The streamlined, split-roof, bowl design is spectacular and anchors DTE to it's neighbors. Also, like the way it bookends the city on one end with Target Field on the opposite end of town. The interplay between the sleek, blue hued side panels cleverly connect the Mill District's indigo hues of the Guthrie Theater. This design seems very thought out and connects the entire downtown in a way the other design options do not seem to do.

Really hoping the design-selection committee didn't make a mistake in it's decision. We will know in a few weeks or a few years.

[John]

Really hoping the design-selection committee didn't make a mistake in it's decision. We will know in a few weeks or a few years.

It will be interesting to see the reaction from UrbanMSP members when the design is unveiled. We all have our strong opinions!

[martykoessel]

Yikes! Not for me, personally.....I guess I'm more traditional than the average fan. This just doesn't scream "Minnesota" to me whatsoever. IDK, what do others think?

Big honking snowdrifts. What could be Minnesota than that? At least until global warming really takes hold. Then we can imagine sailboats.

[min-chi-cbus]

Yikes! Not for me, personally.....I guess I'm more traditional than the average fan. This just doesn't scream "Minnesota" to me whatsoever. IDK, what do others think?

Big honking snowdrifts. What could be Minnesota than that? At least until global warming really takes hold. Then we can imagine sailboats.

While we're at it, let's just add some Lutefisk and icycles.....let's be stereotypically Minnesotan!

What I meant by being "Minnesotan" was a bit conservative, yet slightly progressive at the same time. Not meant to be taken quite as literal as snow drifts, sail boats, or lutefisk!!

[TWA]

So earlier in this thread, the photo that showed a whole wall that can rotate panels to create an open feel- just wanted to point out that it looks like it is also in the rendering above. That is the wall that is supposed to look west towards downtown.

[sushisimo]

A truly Minnesotan design element would be a mural depicting a passive-aggressive merging scene during highway construction.

I'm hoping the final design is close to what's posted above. Agreed, I think the white may be hard to keep clean, but like Green Bay hires locals to shovel out snow, maybe we could get a posse of people to be power-hosers now-and-then.

[martykoessel]

If it can stay clean, white = energy conservation. Packed with people, even in late fall the problem will be keeping the stadium cool inside. Hence, reflecting sunlight is a good thing.

Of course, as we mentioned before, this might not look anything like the final design. Somehow, though, the way this basic design keeps popping up everywhere, including the front page of the Sunday Strib, I'd be a bit surprised if the design weren't heading in this direction. Also, I've heard that this design will look different than any other football stadium, and this would certainly fit the bill.

To make a stadium not look like an immense UFO settled to earth, and therefore unsympathetic to an urban neighborhood, the mass must be broken up somehow. The undulating strips and permeability could do this.

There's a part of me that still rankles at seeing so much public money being spent on something that might not be its best use socially and economically, but having a design that accomplishes as much as the Target Field design does will help ease the sting and increase confidence that in the long haul this investment pays off for the city.

[John]

There's a part of me that still rankles at seeing so much public money being spent on something that might not be its best use socially and economically, but having a design that accomplishes as much as the Target Field design does will help ease the sting and increase confidence that in the long haul this investment pays off for the city.

Yes, having a very well designed stadium with great architecture will make a strong contribution to our community in the long haul. We are already seeing the economic benefit with the the DTE on the verge of a development boom. The ethical argument of so much taxpayer subsidy is a concern and I'm not thrilled with it. However, the reality is that's how these things are built.

[RailBaronYarr]

However, the reality is that's how these things are built.

Might want to look in to the Atlanta Falcons stadium financing proposal, or how the Patriots and Steelers built their stadiums...

[MNdible]

As I noted previously, just because the Falcons are fronting more money doesn't necessarily mean that the public of Atlanta is getting a better deal. Reports are that the Vikings will be paying significantly more money in rent than the Falcons. Also, the Falcons are "buying out early" of a newer stadium, and Atlanta is a larger (more lucrative) market.

Not to suggest that the public of Minnesota got a great deal, just that it's not very meaningful to compare one stadium deal to another based on a top line number without understanding all of the details.

[Rixware]

I just wanted to throw in this image from the now-resolved baseball discussion:



(Found this and one other image here: http://blogs.mprnews.org/stadium-watch/ ... s-stadium/)

The most interesting thing about it is that it's clearly more than a concept drawing. It appears to be based on the actual schematics being developed for the design. In other words, forget the ribbon concept, and any other concept you've seen which isn't at least an oval.

This isn't necessarily bad, but it's also not innovative. The design they're working on, at least in its bones, is very traditional. Hopefully they have found a way to make the exterior sufficiently interesting.

[zamboni]

I think the glass portions should be made of different colors where it doesn't show the downtown view. The colored panes could be symbols and characters of Viking lore and it would also give it a religious overtone, because for some football is religion. The colors should also give it a warmer feel for those inside.

Can't say I agree...Makes me think we'll end up with a stadium looking like the Cedar Riverside highrises.

[Minneboy]

I think the glass portions should be made of different colors where it doesn't show the downtown view. The colored panes could be symbols and characters of Viking lore and it would also give it a religious overtone, because for some football is religion. The colors should also give it a warmer feel for those inside.

Can't say I agree...Makes me think we'll end up with a stadium looking like the Cedar Riverside highrises.

Because of adding color? The architecture is so not alike.

[seanrichardryan]

...In other words, forget the ribbon concept, and any other concept you've seen which isn't at least an oval.

To be fair- that is essentially a basement plan. Everything would be below grade.

[Nathan]

...In other words, forget the ribbon concept, and any other concept you've seen which isn't at least an oval.

To be fair- that is essentially a basement plan. Everything would be below grade.

In the ribbon design it could very well be an oval inside, it's that casing that breaks up that typical stadium shape and paradigm.

[martykoessel]

Take a look at pages 22-25 of the HKS presentation linked in Rich's posting on October 16. This shows an oval stadium withing the ribbon-roof design. This is still no proof that this will become the final design, but it does indicate that the baseball layout posted is not evidence that it won't be.

Oh, what the hell. Don't bother with all that searching. Here's the link right here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/110143835/HKS ... esentation

[MNdible]

Did we ever figure out where the "cinnamon stick" design images came from? That seemed to me to be a more likely indication of where the design is headed, as those were new images that couldn't be tied to any of the pre-proposal views (that were produced without any input from the Vikings or the state).

[Le Sueur]

Again:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... um-designs