San Francisco's Green Stadium for America's Cup

San Francisco just unveiled a plan to host the 34th America’s Cup yacht race with an ambitious green amphitheater set on the bay. Proposed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the plan is based on revitalizing abandoned piers between the Bay Bridge and the ballpark. In addition to renovating this part of the city, the project boasts an array of sustainable design features such as rainwater harvesting and a huge sail-like canopy covered in solar cells.

The long abandoned piers are adjacent to a booming mixed-use area just south of downtown. The city’s proposal for the America’s Cup event provides the properties, which will require seismic retrofits, breakwater features, and other major improvements. The revived waterfront will be anchored by a huge public amphitheater designed by the SF offices of SOM to emulate the aesthetic of a sail. Solar electric panels will be incorporated into the tensile net canopy, which will provide a daylit shelter for thousands of onlookers. A mast made from recycled wood will keep the rig aloft. To starboard the of the facility will be the media faculties and to port will be series of new wharfs for the racing teams and yachtsmen.

[via Inhabitat]