East Stand Canopy of the Olympic Stadium

The new canopy of the stadium covers the eastside bleachers, roughly one fourth of the stadium. The roof has two characters. It is almost invisible from the stadium exterior respecting the pure functionalistic architecture of the stadium. On the other hand it has a strong contemporary character in the stadium interior. The steel construction is optimised by the section formed by a double sinus curve which gives an undulating, smooth geometry to the underside surface of the roof. The underside surface is wood which gives a warm feeling of material and also relates well to the previous extensions of the stadium. The structural planning was extended into careful studies with both static and aeroelastic wind tunnel experiments. The elementation of the structure as well as the reinforcement of the old concrete structure proposed great challenges. The stadium itself was completed 1938 for the Olympic Games in Helsinki. It was originally designed by Yrjö Lindgren and Toivo Jäntti. The project was completed for the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The canopy has been awarded previously The Finnish Steel Prize 2005 and been higly commended in the architectural reviews emerging architecture awards.