Interview with architect and designer Lord Norman Foster on Manchester United's plans to build a proposed new 100,000 capacity stadium at a cost of around 2 billion pounds
Manchester, UK
Manchester, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today.
00:07It starts with the most famous football club in the world.
00:11A billion followers globally.
00:14So it starts with the fans.
00:17It starts with the idea of making something which is so intense
00:22it brings you close to the pitch.
00:24Acoustically, it cultivates the roar.
00:29As you move away from the stadium,
00:31it's not a fortress surrounded by a sea of cars.
00:35It's open.
00:36And it's contained by an umbrella that harvests solar energy,
00:40harvests rainwater, but it's protective.
00:43And it encloses arguably the largest public space in the world.
00:50It's welcoming, it's open,
00:52it's at the very heart of a new neighbourhood.
00:56And then it's part of the city of Manchester,
00:59the fastest growing city in the United Kingdom.
01:02A city, again, like no other.
01:05It's a powerhouse, steeped in history.
01:08Trafford Park was the industrial heartland of the nation,
01:13a heritage which I have a personal connection to.
01:17My father was a factory worker at Metropolitan Vickers.
01:21And then the three masts, the Trident,
01:24visible from 40 kilometres, 200 metres high.
01:28So this becomes a global destination.
01:32Normally a stadium would take 10 years to build.
01:36We half that time, five years.
01:39How do we do that?
01:40By prefabrication,
01:42by using the network of Manchester Ship Canal,
01:46bringing it back to a new life,
01:49shipping in components, 160 of them, Meccano-like.
01:54And then we rebuild the old Trafford Station.
01:58And that becomes the pivot, the processional way to the stadium.
02:03Welcoming and at the heart of a new sports-led neighbourhood.
02:08It's walkable, it's well served by public transport,
02:13it's endowed by nature,
02:15it learns from the past, it creates streets.
02:18It's a mixed-use mini-city.
02:23So what makes a global destination?
02:26What makes something so special?
02:28It's teamwork.
02:29It's the best brains, the civic leaders,
02:32the owners, the consultants, the engineers,
02:35the architects, the fans.
02:37The list is so long.
02:39It's a team effort.
02:41That is at heart of the success of this project.
02:48The World Cup is a project of the World Cup Foundation
02:52and the European Union.
02:54The World Cup is a project of the European Union.
02:57The World Cup is a project of the European Union.