The competition for the Estonian National Stadium was a 2-phase public procurement where our entry was shortlisted for the 2nd stage and prized as the 1st runner-up. The stadium would be used for Estonian national Song and Dance Festival as the main arena for dancing events, as well as for sports. Our design is based on a concept of powerful entities comprising of small and light elements – like a tribe or a family being made of its members and the relations between them. So the strength of the roof is coming from the coordinated tensile cables that visually combine into a structure of a tree/plant. In the same way, the torch of the stadium is formed by the combined lights of smaller flame beams. Thus we attempt to reflect the resilience of Estonian nation – instead of a single monolithic core, the power is accomplished by a combination of multiple small elements.
The tensile-compressive ring of the stadium roof is made of laminated timber. Thus we have designed the worlds largest chariot wheel. This figure draws its power from the Fenno-Ugric mythological world-wheel.