The 2014 Asian Games began today (19 September) at South Korea’s Incheon Asiad Main Stadium with a colourful opening ceremony being staged at the 70,000-seat arena.

From now until 4 October, almost 10,000 athletes from 45 countries will compete in 439 events across 36 sports and disciplines.

Both the opening and closing ceremony, plus all of the athletics events, will be staged in the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, which has been specially constructed for the Games.

Designed by international sports specialists Populous, in association with local firm Heerim Architects and Planners, the stadium is intended to illustrate a new level of sustainable design in Asian stadia. The multipurpose stadium will hold 70,000 people during the Games will reduce down to a single sided grandstand for 30,000 afterwards as a People’s Park for the city of Incheon.

Legacy and sustainability were the driving factors in designing the stadium in Incheon, according to Populous senior principal Andrew James.

“Rather than considering how we could shrink a 70,000 seat stadium, we turned the idea on its head and thought let’s build a 30,000 seat stadium and add 30,000 temporary seats,” he said.

“This approach provided multiple advantages. Financially, it reduced the building by two thirds meaning there are substantial savings in operational and maintenance costs. Secondly, it meant the permanent seats could be sited in the optimal position for these sports, in this instance, in the west stand.”

James stressed that the most important element of building a flexible stadium was to ensure there was plenty of scope to leave a legacy.

“The plans were always based on a community park, which after the Games, will replace the Eastern stand, providing atmospheric spectator viewing during a match, and a green space for the public to enjoy at all other times,” he added

“If the social legacy is achieved in the way it was originally planned, I think the world will sit up and notice that Korea is leading the way in delivering a sports’ project with a real defined legacy”.

To read a feature by Populous' John Barrow on the global trend towards temporary structures in sports stadia – from the 2012 Sports Handbook – click

here.