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FIRST LOOK: MLS’s Queens Stadium Renderings

Since MLS publicly disclosed their desire to place a second New York franchise in the middle of Flushing Meadows Park, fans and observers alike have wondered just what the proposed stadium would look like.

Here is your first taste.

SHoP architects, the firm chosen to create Major League Soccer’s Flushing Meadow Park Stadium plans, held a presentation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture on February 1st focused on the creation of the Barclays Center (home of the Brooklyn Nets).

Amidst the hour long presentation, a very short segue into other projects revealed what Major League Soccer fans have long been waiting for; their first look at renderings of the league’s proposed Flushing Meadows Park Stadium.

Blink and you may have missed it.

The video of this presentation (first published in it’s entirety on the SB Nation “Nets Daily” blog and attached below) reveals some interesting details and characteristics about MLS’s ambitious plans.

For details on the project, pictures and to view the video itself, follow the jump:

  • TIMELINE – Presenter Gregg Pasquarelli notes to his audience the secrecy involved with the project – going so far as to refuse naming the obvious location in question. However, he does give an inkling as to when it will officially be presented to the general public.

“The project I’m not supposed to show (you) so I am not going to tell you where it is or what it is but it’s a new stadium that should be announced in the next couple of months,” he revealed.

  • STADIUM DETAILS – Pasquarelli delineates how the park “folds up into the concourse” while revealing another unique detail to the stadium’s construction.

“It’s all about making a new kind of stadium that has no walls, that’s completely open at all times,” he says.

That description can best be seen in the black and white negative of the stadium (above). Unlike Red Bull Arena which uses a spacious roof frame enveloped in a unique mesh to create it’s enclosure, this Flushing Meadow Stadium consists of a tighter, rigid skeleton to create it’s top. That type of solidity could help explain Commissioner Don Garber’s claim that the 25k seat arena could grow to accommodate 35k without further expansion into the park. The skeleton would already be there for that purpose.

  • THE PARK WITHIN THE STADIUM The landmark location of the arena won’t be lost in it’s construction. Working with the contours of the landscape, the stadium’s upper level “folds down” as described by Pasquarelli, giving full view of Flushing’s most iconic symbol – The Unisphere.
  • REPLACEMENT/RENOVATED PARK LAND – In the principal image above, you have the first of what would be up to 13 acres of parkland MLS would be forced to replace if the construction of this project is approved. This image is an east to west view of the stadium with the Unisphere in the distance. This parcel of replacement/renovated parkland would lie just east of the stadium, closest to the Van Wyck Expressway.

Considering these images were not released for mass consumption, construction plans could surely change between now and whenever SHoP and MLS decide to unveil their plans. Nevertheless, this is the clearest depiction to date of the league’s vision for the home of their proposed second New York franchise.

Major League Soccer hopes to begin play in their Flushing Meadow home by the Spring of 2016.

Here are more images of the stadium with historical landmarks highlighted for clarity.

And the video that brought it all to light (forward to the 32nd minute mark) …

Now that you’ve seen the goods, what are your thoughts on the project? Do you like the first glimpse of the stadium? Share your thoughts below.

*NOTE: The pictures herein are screenshots from the video which has now been taken down by it’s publisher. They were shown as part of a presentation via projector to the audience in attendance, hence the blurry quality. They have been enhanced for better visibility.


Archived content originally from EmpireOfSoccer.com by Dave Martinez

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