Massive masonry and soaring vaults ... an elevated brick bridge will connect the new Chelsea stadium to Fulham Road. Picture by Jack Megaw/Focus; images-courtesy of Guardian.

Herzog & de Meuron has just revealed the new images of Chelsea's new stadium which refers to past with its fresh reinterpretation of Westminster Abbey. Roman Abramovich,is the commissioner of the club, says that '' the expected cost of the project at least £500m and will open crowd capacity from 42,000 to 60,000, stepping up in a three-tiered stack of terraces'' according to the reports. Brick bridges, giant vaults and massive masonry look are completely showing a contrast at the heart of London. Up to now, just a few images have been served to the media but immediately gained a greaction with their different, unusual and mystical images that people are not so much familiar with till now.

The area between the facade and the seating stands will be a dramatic nave-like space. Photograph: Jack Megaw/Focus Images Limited; images courtesy of Guardian.

Herzog & de Meuron evaluates his design as “a castle, or a medieval walled village … something you wouldn’t find anywhere else.” “It is beyond beauty or ugliness,” he adds.“It’s about creating something unique. Like Anfield – that is certainly not a nice stadium, but it has this amazing tradition.” mentioned in Oliver Wainwright's article from the Guardian. The feeling of a ''nude structure'' increases the authenticity of the project that discovers the atmospheric spaces in an urban context. “We have tried to make it a place where people will really feel at home,” says architect Jacques Herzog, himself an avid football fan who still plays once a week, speaking from his studio in Basel. “I’ve never had that feeling so strongly, as when I saw my first games in Liverpool and Manchester, how much you have this sense of a club’s identity in the stadium in England – more than anywhere else in Europe.” mentioned in the same article.

‘A castle, or a medieval walled village’ … the proposed view from Fulham Road of the West Stand. Photograph: Jack Megaw/Focus Images Limited; images courtesy of Guardian.

> via theguardian.com