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Iconic Queenslander homes inspire architects of new Brisbane Stadium
https://giica.au/news/iconic-queenslander-homes-inspire-architects-of-new-brisbane-stadium
Brisbane 2032
The Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032 will be a place where all can unite and belong. A Games where people can reach their full potential on and off the sporting field, surrounded by the awe-inspiring beauty of Brisbane, Queensland and Australia.
https://www.olympics.com › brisbane-2032
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Brisbane won its bid to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so new ‘world-class’ infrastructure has to be provided for the event, with the core icon, ‘the centrepiece,’ being the $3.8bn main stadium - yet another sports venue for the world: (some reports record the figure as $3.6bn). The total estimate for all the 2032 Olympic infrastructure is $7.1bn.
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Leading Australian companies COX Architecture and Hassell, both internationally renowned, will team with Japan’s Azusa Sekkei to lead the design of an iconic and connected centrepiece Stadium in Victoria Park that will become the city’s premier sporting and entertainment venue and host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.#
The selection panel undertook comprehensive analysis and deliberation across the four impressive ids before choosing the successful team, with the global expertise, local knowledge, and practical experience of COX, Hassell and Azusa Sekkei finishing ahead.
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The chosen architects, or should one say the selected architectural team of COX, Hassell and the Japanese firm Azusa Sekkei, present/s their scheme as a ‘Queensland response’ - with a Japanese touch? - referencing local and surrounding areas - the identity of Brisbane but also the broader region: Tokyo? In spite of this apparent preference and concern for regionalism, it seems that Australia always has to manage its cringe, never considering itself good enough for anything significant. The stadium is to be located in Victoria Park,## a unique, inner-city green area with its rolling green hills and sweeping views close to the CBD. One might say that this siting references past ‘Queensland’ regional practices too, where public parkland is seen to be available for new sporting complexes, as if open green space meant nothing for the city but a convenience for such infrastructure development. It appears as though this matter does not concern the team, as almost miraculously, so it seems, we are told that the project will also maximise parklands and enhance the experience of all park users and community. What else might one want? Is all of this access going to be free of charge, or is one going to have to pay to enjoy/experience the ‘park’? One has to remember that stadiums never come as simple, clean dots on the landscape, in the iconic rolling green hills and sweeping views. Like wind farms, they have complex supporting systems, infrastructure, and services that chew up parkland too, and have significant impacts on the local area. All of these facilities need to be considered in any review of impact, not merely the preferred blurb. One does wonder if Central Park in New York might be developed in this way, with a complex of this size and scale.
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Australia has a history of using parkland for public facilities, especially sports clubs with their courts and playing fields. The logic seems to be that these are ‘open spaces,’ but they are not parkland. It is a practice that Brisbane seems to have adopted with enthusiasm. It doesn’t appear to matter where the park is, or how important the open space might be for the community, open public land is seen to be available for local Councils to approve just about anything that they want, which the cynics might say is what Councils always do, such is their authority and power.^^
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One particular case comes to mind: Yeronga Memorial Park*** in Brisbane. One was staggered when the Council plan of the park that identified all of the different leased areas was viewed. Yeronga Memorial Park is on one large block surrounded by Villa Street, Ipswich Road, School Road, and Park Road. It is a significant piece of high land with views to Mt. Coot-tha. It is not the type of parkland that has been put aside because it had been an old refuse tip, was land that floods, or merely some useless, unwanted piece of property of no value to anyone. This block is what could be called prime real estate. It is a beautiful park with mature trees, but the great surprise is that a significant portion of this land has been divided off for various private, public, and club uses. The list is as staggering as the areas that have been formally allocated for others to use; one might say ‘Olympic’ in scale. The park block accommodates:
Fire Station (now a commercial premises);
Kindergarten;
CWA Rooms;
Public Swimming Pool – an Olympic pool;
State Primary School (est.1871 as Boggo Primary School);
Dental Hospital;
Scouts Club;
Tennis Club;
Girl Guides;
Blind Cricketers Club;
Basket Ball Club;
Bowls Club (now Bridge Club) with parking area;
Croquet Club with parking area;
Football Club and associated car parking areas;
War Memorial (WW1);
playground area.
The remaining open area is parkland accessed by a dividing axial road that passes through the memorial gates on the west. What other memorial site would be treated in this manner? An estimate is that, at best, only one quarter of the block is true open parkland area – the space between the leased zones.
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One might suggest that the new Olympic stadium is continuing with this appropriation of parkland for sporting uses, with the spin being structured to try to present the best perception possible for this familiar strategy. One could argue that park developments like these are for public uses, but when, say, the football club grows from its humble, struggling beginnings, it soon seeks to expand, wanting more car parking space, and larger buildings as it introduces commercial uses like bars, restaurants, poker machines, bottle shops, extra playing fields, and entertainment areas, all the while expecting to use the park for its own private enterprise.
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It is not as though Brisbane has a surplus of parkland that it can be so careless with its allocation, especially in the inner city areas. One has to ask why the opportunity was not taken to develop a rundown area of the city and transform it into a vibrant new centre rather than take the lazy option of grabbing some green space, Victoria Park’s . . . rolling hills and . . . sweeping views, and turning it into ‘Olympic Park.’ There is no shortage of rundown areas! Why has the challenge been overlooked?
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Why do Olympics need everything new? The world is filling up with unused Olympic stadiums that have provided the required spectacle for the few weeks, and then faded away into everyday life that has much less of a buzz, and a much reduced demand for use, in spite of being ‘home’ for a couple of clubs that could soon want more expanded or different facilities.
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The winning concept by COX, Hassell and Azusa Sekkei is a “Queensland Response” for the new venue that embeds the Stadium into Victoria Park’s topography, nestling it within the rolling hills and taking in the sweeping views, while also maximise parklands and enhance the experience of all park users and community.
Is this just a catch-all, cover-all statement? Is the idea to make the parkland more ‘useful’? One visits a stadium for an event, not to wander in the park or enjoy vistas. One has to remember that there could be 63,000 people attending an event! This number is hardly conducive to a quiet stroll in verdant open space, or an intimate moment to ponder the view, especially when the visitors are all anticipating or have experienced the excitement of a game, a spectacle, or an occasion. What is the impact of this development beyond the park?
“The selected team possess the appropriate experience in stadium design, alongside outstanding local knowledge and placemaking expertise, plus the added global resources that will be required for a project of this significance.
What is placemaking?* Does an idyllic park with rolling hills and taking in the sweeping views have to be redesigned as a ‘place’? One might suggest that the stadium will be ‘place changing.’
COX Architecture Director and Chair Richard Coulson said the team’s global and local expertise ensures the Stadium will be designed for performance, flexibility and community connection.
One is puzzled about the essential connection here. How does performance, flexibility and community connection require global and local expertise? Is one merely being fed words that make sense in a grab-all, gobbledegook, ‘Don’t think too much’ sense?
“The Queensland character is defined more by humility than bravado, a quality reflected in the architecture of the traditional Queenslander,” Mr Coulson said.
“We believe the stadium must be truly of its place, reflecting not only the identity of Brisbane but also the broader region. It should foster the connection between where we live, the surrounding landscape, and nature itself. With its rolling green hills and sweeping views, Victoria Park is a stunning setting for this stadium.+
“The importance of long views, capturing cooling breezes, and the essential provision of shade, all embody the relaxed way of life that Queenslanders cherish – qualities that are integral to our culture.
“The ‘verandah’ qualities of the Queenslander are representative of all Queensland.”
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Why should a stadium foster the connection between where we live, the surrounding landscape, and nature itself? Because of its controversial parkland setting? Why should a stadium be inspired by a house verandah? How? Are long views really what Queenslanders cherish? What are these long views? Surely seeking breezes and shade becomes a simple necessity in our subtropical climate rather than a cultural quirk?
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A stadium takes its form and purpose as a place to view an event, for watching an occasion, for gathering, not for supervising distant views or enjoying the breezy shade. A stadium is introvert, turning its back on the world, looking away from it, with an enclosure that provides seating for thousands – 63,000 here apparently – around a centrepiece of activity. The rest of the world is forgotten in this place of entertaining distractions. The graphic renderings highlight this purpose. How can this become the characteristic verandah space? Still, in spite of everything, we are told that:
“It will not only deliver a world-class experience for athletes and fans but provide Brisbane with a vital piece of sporting infrastructure of true global calibre – a place all Queenslanders will be proud of."
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Let’s hope it doesn’t rain for the Olympics: the stadium is not roofed, leaving one to wonder about the interaction of sunlight and shade, and breezes with this structure that looks just like, well, a stadium that is hardly less humble than any other. Given the sun, wind, and water issues that the Brisbane Tennis Centre’s centre court, the Pat Rafter Arena, endures even with its partial enclosure – it is substantially a roofed court open around the edges – one needs to study the impacts of the elements on this ‘O’ ring shelter and assess these against the hype. One thinks of the bullring, where seating is sold as with sun or shade.
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One has to carefully deconstruct architectural spin for it is usually a cluster of clichés assembled to address every conceivable objection, to gloss over all potential problems, and to make everything feel good; super! It seems that one should not ponder too much on matters, but one has to ask: Are ‘verandah qualities’ truly representative of the whole of Queensland? Which variety might this be; the open, partially enclosed, or fully enclosed verandah? – see https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-new-queensland-house.html, which is a review of a publication that promotes the same idea/ideal about Queensland life as this architectural team says it does. Again, in spite of this preference, enclosure is a common feature of verandah living across Queensland.
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Then one wonders: What is the identity of Brisbane . . . (and) the broader region? Which region might this be? Given the attention to, and sensitivity with matters regional, this question seems relevant. Might this be beach, grasslands, or desert; plains, valleys, or hills; rainforest or bushland? It is not an irrelevant matter because we are presented with such a broad generalisation:
“The importance of long views, capturing cooling breezes, and the essential provision of shade, all embody the relaxed way of life that Queenslanders cherish – qualities that are integral to our culture.
The questions linger: How can these cliché-like qualities be integral to our culture? Looking into the distance, if one can; opening a window; sitting under an awning . . . is this a culture, preference, or necessity?^ One ponders the 'bull' reference. Might there be the ring of an edict and/or nonsense in the presentation of this scheme?@
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Not everyone thinks this project in the heritage park is a great idea.** The response to the objectors who seek to keep the park undeveloped is typically ‘Queensland’ in its approach too, reminding one of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era: loopy nimbies -
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has branded critics of the Brisbane Stadium development “loopy” and “a bunch of nimbies” while announcing the architecture team.
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It is a rude, attacking response that seems to be coming more commonplace these days with seemingly arrogant and egocentric politicians believing they can do whatever they wish, whenever, however, in spite of everything.
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It seems that the PR process is in full swing:
https://share.google/X1rMniQ0pt2MHKZZG – 7 Jan 26.
It is surprising that all of this PR/blurb comes without the statement on the recognition of Country, etc , that even the bank in the local shopping centre has on its wall. Maybe everyone has their mind on other matters; maybe they haven't even thought of this yet?## - see: https://voussoirs.blogspot.com/2024/06/country-outside-inside-place.html
and https://www.savevictoriapark.com/history
#
COX is a national architecture practice of 660 employees while Hassell is a global organisation of 555 staff across Australia, Asia and Europe – the two firms having an outstanding history of success working together as anchor designers for Perth’s Optus Stadium, the redeveloped Adelaide Oval and the MCG.
1215 people, but still other international firms are needed for the team, leaving one wondering who will do what, where, when, and how with another 800 folk and two other engineering firms too:
Azusa Sekkei is a leading Japanese architecture firm with over 800 staff and extensive experience delivering 120 stadiums and arenas and 42 competition pools, including the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The team is also supported by two of the world’s leading engineering firms Arup and SBP who bring significant stadium experience to the design of the important roof solution.
The quoting of numbers seems to want to try to convince the public of the skill and expertise of these firms, when it is quality that needs to be defined.
The combination seems to be essential, 2:1, as we have:
Zaha Hadid Architects, Woods Bagot and Cox Architecture complete Sydney airport
*
AI Overview
Placemaking is
the collaborative process of transforming public spaces into vibrant, community-focused destinations where people want to live, work, play, and connect, focusing on local assets, culture, and needs to foster well-being, social connection, and economic vitality, rather than just functional buildings. It's a human-centered approach that builds on community identity, involving residents in reimagining and creating meaningful places that serve everyone.
. . . as if public parkland was irrelevant as a place in a city, and was in need of improvement.
One always has to carefully analyse architectural spin that seeks to make matters ‘look rosy.’
^
AI Overview
Culture is
the shared way of life, including beliefs, values, customs, arts, knowledge, and behaviors, that characterizes a particular group of people, passed down through generations and shaping their identity and interactions with the world, encompassing both tangible things (like food and art) and intangible aspects (like language and traditions). It's essentially the "software" of a society, guiding how people understand, behave, and create meaning in their lives, and it constantly evolves.
Behaviors . . . passed down through generations and shaping their identity and interactions with the world: shaded in a breeze, no doubt sucking on a stubbie, with a few six-packs in the Esky nearby waiting to be consumed, looking into the distance and admiring the smoke from the bushfire?++ There are probably a few shrimp on the nearby barbie too.
++
NOTE: This was the report of a group who sat and watched the bushfire race towards them at alarming speed on Black Friday. Another report told of a group, enjoying a Saturday afternoon drink, looking across the hills of Brisbane at a house fire. It was the house owned by one of those watching. Such is ‘culture'?
Again, one is reminded of the typical regional blokeish reaction to flood waters: get a carton, sit on the verandah with ‘ya mates,’ and watch the water rise. One wonders if alcohol will be available at the stadium, and if so, will it be in our ‘cultural’ stubbies?
+
If the park is so spectacular, apparently a characteristic that makes it so desirable for development, why is not more so as a public park?
^^
There is a long list of matters that one could reference here, but the most compact is the handyman-built lean to that was constructed over a weekend from the house to the property boundary, as a garage just less than four metres deep, meaning that the vast majority of vehicles projected out onto the footpath. For builders with ladders and plumbers with pipes, this projection extended for nearly the full width of the public access. In spite of this, and with photographic proof, the local Council formally noted that it had approved the structure some years ago, and that it would not enter into any further communication on the matter which it considered closed.
A similar circumstance involved vehicle turning space, where all dimensions were shown to be far less than those noted as requirements in the Council’s own documents. Council just said that it saw no problem and again considered the matter closed.
Such are Councils! . . . and we wonder why we have cities and towns that we have.
**
Some people have concerns:
Controversies cloud Queensland arena design
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1156423/queensland-designs-politics;
others, we are told, love it:
‘Thank heavens’: Qlders sing the praises of stadium design
Say what you want about the 2032 Games, but one undeniable truth remains: Queenslanders love the Victoria Park stadium plan. VOTE NOW
The worry with this latter report is that it could be emotional hoo-ha. There is so little information available for anyone to develop an opinion on, that one has to wonder what this promotion is all about. Is it ‘Olympic crowd’ momentum - the feeling good about something one knows nothing about? Might it be a parasocial response? Maybe limercence; infatuation; wistfulness? - (see note below).
These days folk are trained via social media to respond instantly to an image. Is this what is happening here; or is this blurb pure PR hype made up by the government that has struggled to get close to this point where it is breaking its own election promise of NO NEW STADIUM? Might it be the newspaper offering support for the government? Might it be a struggle to sell a $3.8bn scheme on public parkland, a costing that is already suggested as being something more like $4.5bn?
NOTE:
AI Overview
The word for people having a strong emotional connection with someone not known to them is parasocial (as in parasocial relationship).
A parasocial relationship is a one-sided connection where an individual develops a sense of intimacy, emotional bond, or friendship with a media personality, fictional character, or other figure whom they have never met. The feelings are real for the person experiencing them, even though the other party is unaware of the relationship's existence.
AI Overview
The feeling for someone you don't know, often an intense, idealized longing or fixation, can be described by words like limerence, wistfulness, or even the German Sehnsucht, which is a deep yearning for the unknown, though it's often an infatuation with an imagined version of them, sometimes called false nostalgia or fictophilia if for a fictional person.
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@
bull
noun
noun: bull; plural noun: bulls
Origin
Middle English: from Old French bulle, from Latin bulla ‘bubble, rounded object’ (in medieval Latin‘seal or sealed document’).
bull
noun
informal
noun: bull
Origin
early 17th century: of unknown origin.
##
Victoria Park is also known as Barrambin, which means "the windy place" in the traditional language of the Turrbal peoples. The area of Victoria Park closest to the site of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and the Mayne Railway Yard at Bowen Hills was likely known more specifically as "Walan". It was traditionally a meeting and gathering place for Indigenous groups travelling through the area, as well as a cultural site for corroboree, dance, hunting and fishing. Traditional spearing challenges between Indigenous families would also be held at the site, near the RNA showgrounds, which attracted white spectators after settlement of the surrounding areas.
Wikipedia
Has the stadium design considered its impact on Country; on history?
See: https://www.savevictoriapark.com/history
***
AI Overview
Yeronga Park (now Yeronga Memorial Park) was first declared a public park and recreation ground in 1882, with the Yeerongpilly Divisional Board establishing it as a permanent reserve in 1888, later becoming a significant WWI memorial from 1917 onwards.
