An Urban Soccer Stadium for Washington D.C.

Abstract

Expansive parking lots, miles of asphalt, and traffic jams: this is what the modern sport stadia has come to represent. Does it have to be this way? What does the future of sports stadia hold? Can we build a stadium that is better integrated to the community around it? The stadium must become a major urban element again and it must engage the urban context.

D.C. United, the most storied franchise in MLS history, needs a new home. Baltimore and other locations in Maryland would gladly welcome the Black-and-Red, but it is vital for them to remain within Washington, D.C. in a soccer specific stadium. An area of land on Buzzard Point has already been chosen for the future development of a new soccer specific stadium and is now waiting for city council approval.

This thesis aims to explore a new type of urban stadium and a new stadium type as a bicycle destination at Buzzard Point. To explore a new type of urban stadium, it is vital to investigate the site's present features as well as investigate the projected future infrastructure development and real estate growth on the site. These future developments must remain throughout the design process because they will one day make up the stadium's urban context.