"Our warning was not heeded" the firm says. Japanese officials are finding out that breaking up is hard to do, especially with Zaha Hadid. Today the starchitect's London-based firm Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) issued a 1,440 word statement to "set the record straight" regarding its ouster from the National Stadium design in Tokyo. The rebuttal comes after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced July 17 that the stadium design would "start over from zero" after contending with costs soaring upwards of $2 billion, which many attributed to ZHA's bombastic plan.ZHA begs to differ.In the statement, the firm asserts that its

Zaha Hadid reduced the size and toned down the expression of her initial design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium, but it is still garnering criticism. In the latest round of public outcry over Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic Stadium, architect Arata Isozaki has stepped into the ring, joining a coterie of illustrious architects opposed to the project’s development. Though he favored the initial helmet-shaped scheme that landed the London architect Zaha Hadid the commission, the revised design has Isozaki deeply concerned. He convened last week with Hadid associate Satoshi Ohashi at a public forum in Tokyo intended to give both parties

Protestors gather around the National Stadium on Saturday, hoping to save it from demolition. On Saturday, placard-wearing protestors took to the streets of central Tokyo and peacefully encircled the 50,000-seat Kasumigaoka National Stadium designed by Mitsuo Katayama and erected for the 1964 Olympics. In preparation for hosting the games again in 2020, the vintage structure is being readied for demolition followed by replacement with a futuristic, Zaha Hadid-designed arena several times its size. But a collection of architects and lay people alike are hoping to convince the Japan Sport Council (JSC) to do otherwise. Japan does not have a great

The new national stadium of Japan, by Zaha Hadid Architects, will be built for the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo. In September, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the host city for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020. A town with a good track record, Tokyo beat out Istanbul and Madrid and took the prize for the third time. The city was first selected for the 1940 summer games, which were canceled due to World War II. Tokyo’s second win was for the 1964 summer Olympics. Symbolizing the end of Japan’s post–World War II reconstruction, new athletic facilities