10 stadium with a tower

It is not very easy to be able to distinguish a stadium within a city; either it is a very large plant (therefore, even in the presence of tall buildings, it is still easy to see, like San Siro in its neighborhood), or there is a characteristic element that allows you to distinguish it. Like a tower. Like the indistinguishable one of the Franchi stadium in Florence, precisely characteristic for the presence of the Maratona Tower. It was originally a symbol of athletic endurance for marathon runners, but later, it was recognized above all as an added architectural element to break (in the geometry of the stadium) the horizontal dimension of the other stands. The Torre del Franchi is aesthetically the best known of those of the Italian stadiums, with similar examples also found in Bologna or at the Olimpico Grande Torino. Over the years, other plants have been enriched or built from scratch with one or more towers, built, in most cases, to insert a commercial district in the context of the stadium. Given the iconicity and architectural value that stadiums have taken on with towers, nss sports has selected the best examples around the world. 

1 - Artemio Franchi Stadium of Florence 

Designed and finished building between 1929 and 1932, the Franchi di Firenze (there is also another one in Tuscany, in Siena) is considered by architects a fundamental example of rationalism. The Maratona Tower stands above the Marathon grandstand and is 75 meters high (55 meters only of the tower, the rest is of the bleachers). The meaning of the construction has fascist references - the exaltation of the effort and commitment of the athletes, a canon also used for the other towers in the Italian stadiums - but the architectural value recognized to the work of Pier Luigi Nervi comes from all over the art world, being an elegant structure, imposing and perfectly integrated into the geometry of the stadium, in turn famous for the D-shaped plant form. Other important elements are the helical access stairs and the canopy that covers the central grandstand. 

2 - Olympic Stadium of Montreal

Montreal Olympic Stadium is a unique case. In fact, in its construction, the birth of the stadium was subordinated to the construction of an innovative project, namely a retractable roof operated by a tower 175 meters high (the Palazzo della Regione in Milan, to be understood, is 161 meters high) tilted, in fact, of this kind the first in the world in size. The function of the structure - wanted by the archistar of sports facilities Roger Taillibert for the 1976 Olympic Games - is in fact to slide the roof of the stadium with tie rods, an operation that in 1976, when the stadium was inaugurated, was sensationally futuristic. Unfortunately, however, also very expensive, given that the final sum for the construction of the entire plant - which under the tower also houses a swimming pool and other facilities - was 1.4 billion dollars. For this, montrealers call it The Big O.

3 - Arena CSKA of Moscow

Of all the negil stadium towers, this one of the CSKA Moscow plant is the newest. Owned by VEB (which also holds naming rights throughout the sports facility), construction work on the tower and stadium began in 2007 and was completed in 2016; the tower (which, although not by definition, resembles a real skyscraper) is an example of contemporary architecture, all glass and steel (it follows the construction style of the entire Russian plant) and is 142 meters high; the shape, edgy and wrapped around itself, is inspired by the first European title won by the Moscow team - the UEFA Cup 2005. The tower is the second in a football stadium (it only happens to that of Montreal) and inside there are offices, a lookout, restaurants and premises used for commercial enterprises. 

4 - Olympiastadion di Helsinki 

Helsinki's Olympistadion tower is considered one of the city's most important points of interest in the Finnish capital. 72 meters high and located to the left of the entrance of the stadium by the architects of the plant Toivo Jäntti and Yrjö Lindegren, its function was basically what the other towers also had, that is, to be a symbol of athletic resistence - for marathon runners running around the track, when they saw the tower it meant that they had arrived at the final sprint. This tower (1938 built) is been a symbol of modernity for years in Finland, from which the first television images were also broadcast. Today, the building is the perfect expression of the functionality of a modern stadium: it contains panoramic terraces, refreshment areas, conference rooms (weddings also take place there), and is also visited by tourists and schoolboys.

5 - Estadio Tomas Adolfo Ducò di Buenos Aires 

Dedicated to argentine military man Tomas Adolfo Ducò, the Huracan stadium is very similar to the Franchi in Florence, both for the architectural style of the bleachers and for the presence of the Miravé Tower in the grandstand opposite the central staircase. The tower consists of a vertical block that, in about half, is divided into three parts, of which the one in the center remains the highest. Those three tips were used for telephone transmission, while below, there are those that were originally cabins for the management of the electrical system. The function of the tower is currently ornamented as, for several years, it has not been used, but in 2019 its interiors were improved, revitalized in its use. 

6 - Renato Dall'Ara Stadium of Bologna 

An important tower not far from Florence is that of the D'Ara stadium in Bologna, which, like the Tuscan plant, has above the eastern stand a structure of fascist origin built (in 1929) by Giulio Ulysses Arata, the Maratona Al Littoriale Tower. It is square in shape with dimensions of 42x42 meters, consisting of six floors and with two panoramic terraces; currently it is closed to the public and is practically unused, but inside, there is still a room used for the management of the entire Bolognese lighting system. To see it the tower is massive and is perfectly integrated with the stadium stand, with some parts of the dimension still visible. For more than a hundred years, this space within the Dall'Ara has been designed to be the fundamental pillar of the structure. 

7- Arena Kombëtare di Tirana

Seventy-three years later, it's still a bit of Florence in tirana architecture. The Albanian capital was in fact modernized at the time of fascism in Albania by the Tuscan Gherardo Bosio, and more than seventy years later, in 2019, the works of the Arena Kombëtare, designed by the Florentine studio Archea, were completed. The new plant has a tower hotel (of the Marriot chain) more than 100 meters high on the southwest side of the central grandstand, made with the same material coverage as the rest of the stadium. That stands on the same position as the previous one, but built with totally new materials (also used 3D printers and eco-sustainable resources), of which the tower is the most identifying element and which, says the Area site, will be habitable in the coming years. The system is extremely modern also for lighting and interior, and the tower, is both a point of identification of the structure from afar and an observation point of the city from above. In practice, a unique visual fulcrum that unites football and the city. 

Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium di Abu Dhabi

The main facility in the United Arab Emirates is located within the Al Jazira Sports and Cultural Club, a complex where there are also two towers that are an integral part of the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium. Both towers have fifteen floors and were built with two different intents. One is full of apartments and is habitable (with apartments overlooking the playing field), while the other is a business center with rental offices, conference rooms, gyms, and even a hotel, the Al Jazira Club Hotel.

9 - Lumen Field Stadium of Seattle

Seattle Stadium is, like many other MLS facilities, serving both football and football. The stadium is among the best known in the United States as it has a split shape in two, with two high lateral stands and two lower curves; on one of these is the large screen of the plant, built along a 13-story high tower. Its function is mainly to support the vertical scoreboard (usually, instead, they are horizontal) and, above all, to integrate with the Seattle skyline. In fact, the northern sector of the stadium has been built lower than the rest of the stands to create a unique scenic effect, so that from the field and the stands you can see the skyscrapers of the city, which is also joined by the small tower, which fits very well in this open space view effect. 

10 - Brianteo Stadium of  Monza 

The Brianteo Stadium is famous for its vertically very high grandstand, but the Brianza plant is enriched by two huge towers on the right sides of the central grandstand. They are two structures that serve to support the central block of the stadium, which instead of being supported by the normal scaffolding in iron and steel was chosen to use cement. In fact, the towers are cemented pylons that support the stands covered with steel cables that weld to the structure through hooks on the roof. On the towers there were, until a year ago, the headlights that illuminated the field, but since April 2020, the stadium has been modernized with a new LED lighting that replaced the previous plant, currently turned off.