Siena’s Proposed Stadium Is A Bit… Unusual

By: Julian | March 30th, 2011

Currently, Siena lie second in Serie B, eight points ahead of third placed Novara. The club are also only one point away from the summit, and it seems that promotion to Serie A is easily within the club’s grasp, barring any late season catastrophe. The club are somewhat fittingly preparing to build a new stadium featuring an odd characteristic: it’s partially underground.

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The creative design is modeled after the ancient Greek Theater, and even won the 2011 Architectural Review Future Projects award. The stadium will fit about twenty-thousand people: definitely not one of the biggest in the world, but that should be plenty for a side like Siena to ensure that seats are always packed.

The design group, Marazzi Architetti, said that key features include the openness of the ground and the great view of the surrounding area:

Our proposal was to preserve the environmental integrity of the area and with great attention the project appears like a kind of natural incident caused by an idrogeological phenomenon or by an earthquake. Like the ancient Greek Theater, the stadium for 20.000 spectators is set within the Fossatone slopes, and takes shape as it curves through its bends, opening out to create a spacious area for concerts and outdoor events, excavated to form an inclined plane, offering a view of Siena in the background.

Mock-Up of the Interior of the Stadium

One side of it will be fully roofed in- the side most fully underground (This can be seen in the above picture). There will be shops and restaurants in this area of the stadium as well, should all go according to plan.

One potential hurdle is that the club doesn’t seem to have quite enough funding for the proposed idea, and are looking into private funding to help alleviate some of the costs. Promotion should help financially as well, in what would for sure be another interesting attraction for calcio.

Construction hasn’t started yet, but the plan is to build it in Isola d’Arbia.

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Full credit to Kilo15 for submitting the idea to me, proving both that readers have a say on this blog, and that Julian does indeed listen.

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Follow Julian on Twitter for Serie A news coverage, updates on new posts, and more, @JulianDeMar.

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Angel

Hope if becomes a reality. It looks beautiful.

Also, not 100% sure but doesn't Serbia or Slovenia have a stadium built just like this (partially underground)?
Drewsef

What's the deal with the guy kicking back and reading the newspaper the middle of the match? Has Siena really gotten that boring in their Serie B stint?
Kilo15

Architects usually just take pictures of people from an archive of images to place in renders. I like to hide squirrels in my renderings :D
agiamba

He's on the phone, too. Maybe they're corporate seats and so they go to uninterested chumps?
Kabir

Our proposal was to preserve the environmental integrity of the area and with great attention the project appears like a kind of natural incident caused by an idrogeological phenomenon or by an earthquake.
So...the stadium is intended to look like it was caused by an earthquake?
I still have so many questions though, starting with:
1) What's the point? Any advantages aside from being cool?
2) How are they gonna builds stands and stuff? Are they going to excavate further for that? Because in the picture it looks like Siena fans will be sitting on a hill to watch their team.
3) How are they gonna stop people from camping out on top and looking down at the game?
4) How cool would it be to watch over the game like that?
5) How do you even access the stadium or get to the other stands (the ones that aren't roofed in)?
6) What is the proposed date for completion?
7) Why does Siena get such a cool stadium?!
Kabir

Ahah...the stadium should be completed by...2019. Who knows where Siena will be then?
(according to it.eurosport.yahoo.com/1803201...
Elaine

Here's some adoring love for you, Julian:

undergound-isn't-that-where-the-Pokemon-live

I wouldn't know, I'm not a 6 year-old boy. ;)

Oh, and interesting post. I wonder if Siena is preparing to be bombed?
Jose P

looks like the italians are taking a page from the chinese and the dutch when it comes to crazy architecture. like the idea, but don't know if it's a good practical idea.
Rdj8

Novara is third? never heard of that team..
Kabir

Where have you been?
Rossoneri_Ron

Did anyone think about what happens when it rains? At least from my experience, things below ground level get wet
Kilo15

All you need is proper drainage. Drainage pipes can be placed to just divert the water away to lower areas.
Uomo_del_secolo

Italian Stadia.
Proper Planning.

Pick One.

oh, also...
Wow, I never knew that! That's so cool Julian, and you must be so cool to know stuff like this, even if it was submitted by someone else and you had no idea. I love you.
agiamba

I imagine if they go to the lengths of financing, planning, building the stadium, then cutting through bureaucratic red tape, that yes, they'd actually plan proper drainage. In Siena it'd be no problem, too. Not low or anything.
Kilo15

nice Icon ;)
GPR

Do the fans ride to the stadium on tractors and donkeys?
jorid22

About what Francesco said that the project has been around for a bit: It looks like Siena are finally taking the plunge and going ahead with the whole thing officially just now, since even on Wikipedia the time of the announcement by the club is stated as 'during March 2011'.

As for its name, I'm guessing since Siena will need funds, they'll go Juve's way and name the stadium purely after whoever will want to pay the most money for the rights then? So Artemio will now have to settle for just 1 stadium being named after him within a 300km radius lol.
Julian

That's it, until I get 10 comments full of adoring love for this post, I won't put up a new one.

I'll even start you off.

Wow, I never knew that! That's so cool Julian, and you must be so cool to know stuff like this, even if it was submitted by someone else and you had no idea. I love you.
jorid22

This is actually a good post for a change. You know what? Every post should be a guest post on here, it would save a lot of readers' precious eyes from being gouged out by the rusty scalpel that is your quality, or lack thereof of calcio-related reporting. I think I speak for the majority of your readership when I admit that reading your drivel has led to hundreds of thousands of neurons hanging themselves by their axons inside my head, literally.

Wow, I never knew that! That's so cool Julian, and you must be so cool to know stuff like this, even if it was submitted by someone else and you had no idea. I love you.
FrancescoItalyOffside

Another funny thing about the stadium proposal picture, where does the parking lot go? Do the fans ride to the stadium on tractors and donkeys?
Julian

Perhaps the artist is implying something aboit Siena tifosi...
jorid22

Julian, approve my previous, link-containing comment, cazzo!
Julian

Don't you course at me, insolent commentor!
Comrade

Comrade's guide to including links where you are not whitelisted (also known as game-the-disqus-system):

1. Post comment
2. Edit comment to include the link and save the edit.
3. ????
4. Profit!!
jorid22

http://euro.mediotiempo.com/me...

MFW THIS IS WIZARDRY, PURE WIZARDRY.
agiamba

His head is so proportional.
jorid22

http://cdn0.knowyourmeme.com/i...

>the tags
Comrade

I recalled a funny rant by Bari Mike on the Siena stadium:

http://bari.theoffside.com/tea...

What can you say about Siena, besides the fact that they have been delaying this kind of situation for a while now. Perennial overachivers, Siena have been relegation favorites since the day they were promoted in 2001. I mean, how solid can a team be when they play in a stadium that looks like it was assembled by taking sections of stands from other broken down stadia across Europe. A section, here, a disjointed gap there, and hey, another section of stands that looks completely different. Holy shit, we have some sort of an oval surrounding a football pitch. Let’s call it a stadium. Now lets name it. What can we call it?? I know, let’s just copy our big brother to the North, and call it Stadio Artemio Franchi, no one will notice. Sorry Siena fans (if a tree falls in the forest….) but your stadio frustrates me. Its bush league. And what frustrates me even more is that the backdrop looks so picturesque, that if you put a proper stadium in its place, it may be the most beautiful setting for a stadium in all of Italy. Anyways, I cant believe I rambled for that long about Siena’s freaking joke of a stadium. Breathe Mike. OK. Rant over.
Mikey P

haha, I forgot about that piece from way back in the good ol days (from a Bari fan's perspective) of 2009/10

The stadium IS garbage, glad to see they have plans to remedy this, though in Italy, that is about 0.001% of the battle.
agiamba

Ha ha so true...
FrancescoItalyOffside

This plan has been around for years now, I remember seeing these photos years ago. Don't know if it will ever go through (in usual Italian fashion).
Julian

Shh don't you Francesco! It won the award this year, thereby vindicating this post.
Kilo15

Really? I just found out about it about a month ago. Thats a damn shame if it's true. I guess they're having a difficult time securing the necessary funds. I'll be honest I'm not even a Juventino but I cant wait for their new stadium. Although I hear it's only 40,000 capacity which may be fine for now, but I feel like its limiting for the future. If Roma do get a new stadium I just hope it's at least a 55,000 seater.
MM

I thought about that too, and it's a good point regarding the size. I just hope that they build these stadiums in such a way that they can add on in the future, and account for additional seating when/if necessary. Basically the way it's done in College Football nearly every couple of years...
agiamba

Seriously this time- great idea, and it looks fantastic. Siena's current stadium is one of the worst in calcio, although I love the location, right near the heart of old Siena. This one is...err, a bit removed. Guess you can't win 'em all.
agiamba

You know, Siena's President is a well known diehard Roma fan.

Y U ALWAYS POST BOUT ROMA
jorid22

Damn you Aaron. That's what I was about to post!
Comrade

HE GOT THE IDEA FROM A ROMANISTA TOO..!!

DOWN WITH JULIAN!!