Allianz Arena - Munich, Germany

 




Allianz Arena Website
FC Bayern Munich Website 
TSV 1860 Munich Website 

History and Description
The Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany was built in 2005 to replace the old Olympiastadion. Construction of the new stadium started in 2002 and it cost an estimated 340 million euros. This spectacular stadium has a capacity of 75,024. This makes it the third largest stadium in Germany behind the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund and the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 Munich have played their home games at the Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005-2006 season. TSV 1860 Munich previously had a 50% share in the stadium but FC Bayern Munich purchased their shares for 11 million euros in April, 2006. The arrangement allows TSV 1860 Munich to play at the stadium while retaining no ownership. The stadium is also used as a home for the German national team.

The stadium has hosted some key matches since opening in 2005 including 2012 UEFA Champions League final between Chelsea and FC Bayern Munich and 2006 FIFA World Cup semi final between France and Portugal.

Unique Factor
The Allianz Arena's unique feature is its luminous exterior which has the facility to change colour. It is the first stadium in the world to have a full colour changing exterior. The stadium exterior is constructed of 2874 ETFE foil aired panels which are lit accordingly depending on which team is playing that day. The stadium is lit red for FC Bayern Munich games, blue for TSV 1860 Munich games, and white for German national games. The picture below illustrates this.


















It is possible for other colour schemes that can interchange to be adopted as shown in the pictures below but interestingly the Munich police now insists on one colour only due to several accidents in the nearby A9 Autobahn with drivers being distracted by the changing lights.

Unique rating - 5/10
I have given the Allianz Arena a unique rating of 5/10 which is relatively low. The reason for this is that from the inside it is just like any other modern day huge all seater stadium. The justification for its inclusion in this inclusion in this blog is the spectacular lighting effects that the exterior of the stadium has. Future blog posts will include more obscure stadiums with much higher unique ratings...

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