Fisht Stadium, Sochi

If something seems vaguely familiar when you’re watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight, a feeling of deja vu, don’t worry, it’s not a figment of your imagination. Fisht Olympic Stadium, designed by the American firm Populous, bears some  resemblance to our very own Cowboys Stadium, designed by Oak Cliff native Brian Trubey, of HKS Architects. No doubt the Populous folks looked to it when designing their Sochi facility.

Fisht reproduces Cowboys signature pair of arched trusses, and shares its bulbous, hump-back shape — albeit with a wave-like articulated roof of polycarbonate. What it appears not to share, at least from the images available online, is the sensitive way Cowboys Stadium hits the ground, slanting in to minimize its bulk. Fisht is a lot more ham-fisted, flaring out and surrounded by all manner of circulatory junk.

The comparison is worth noting, as Dallas is currently preparing a bid for the 2024 summer Olympic Games, and the Arlington venue would presumably be site of that opening ceremony. Also noteworthy, Populous recently won the commission to design a new ballpark for the Atlanta Braves, winning out over an HKS proposal by Trubey. Populous has something of a stranglehold on the design of Major League Ballparks, having perfected the “retro” look that appears heterogenous but at this point has become a redundant bore.

Our very own Cowboys Stadium

> via artsblog.dallasnews.com