Developments in Structural Forms of Sports Buildings

The history of sport probably extends as far back as the existence of human beings. Sport is an important aspect of the human society. The lives of many people from ordinary people to athletes are very much tied up with sports events. Sports buildings are built to host various competitions such as the Olympics Games and the World Cup. There were probably no dedicated places for primitive people to practice sport. Due to the nature of human beings as social beings, public places are important areas, which allow people to gather for social purposes such as political and religious occasions and for entertainment and sports competitions. Three notable examples of ancient sports places are described. The Olympics Games were the most important of the sports contests, which were first held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century to the end of the 4th century A.D. A famous arena for chariot racing in Rome in the 1st century A.D was the Maximus Circus, which could host 250,000 people. The third one is the Coliseum with about a 48,000 people capacity, which was built for the Roman's entertainment. The Coliseum has inspired the building form of many subsequent sports arenas such as stadia and gymnasia. The significant influence of the Industrial Revolution on the building industry is undeniable. The invention and utilisation of new materials led to creating buildings with specific architectural and structural forms such as the Crystal Palace in London using cast iron, 1851. After the Industrial Revolution, the rules of games and sports were reviewed, and many governing bodies have since been founded. Therefore, the importance of sport increased and many special venues and arenas with more emphasis placed on architectural and structural forms were built such as the White City stadium in London and the Berlin Olympics stadium. The objective of this paper is to investigate the evolution of the structural forms of arenas such as stadia and gymnasia up to the present date from an architectural viewpoint. Familiarity with new materials, led to the design modern and innovative structural forms. In this paper, the developments in structural forms of sports buildings' roofs are divided into three categories, namely: Semi-covered roofs, completely enclosed Stadia and adaptable roofs. Sports buildings have always been in demand by a large number of people. The construction techniques will continue to change because of the development of knowledge of materials and science. On the other hand, architects and engineers often create new forms by understanding the potential of new techniques and using the new materials in their structural forms.