Architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group Founder Bjarke Ingels "not only defended his new client," the Redskins, but he also "waxed poetic about the power of sport to change society," according to Philip Kennicott of the WASHINGTON POST. Ingels "sounded almost utopian in his confidence that smart design could push that evolution forward." Ingels in an email "wrote of the power of sport to cut across social and national lines with spectacles that bring communities together." He "extolled the health benefits of sport in general, and then said: 'BIG and I are proud to be part of imagining and designing the framework for the future of American Football.'" Ingels "gave a few clues about what he hoped to bring, architecturally, to the reform of the game." Ingels: "Does the typical NFL stadium have room for improvement? Yes most certainly. Is it waste of resources to have giant facilities that are only active 10 times a year. Obviously. Therefore we have worked with our team to imagine a facility that can be active both inside and outside all year and all week -- not just on a game day. Also we have sought to distill the stadium experience -- before, during and after the game -- to its essential ingredients -- to provide the greatest intimacy for the players and fans, and in doing so to create a more compact and efficient stadium as opposed to the colossal facilities of the past." Kennicott wrote, "Architects aren’t saints. They serve power, and always have." BIG has "served some shady patrons in the past," but the NFL "isn’t a client that BIG should be proud of." If the firm is indeed "working for the Redskins, it makes one even more nervous about what will happen at the Smithsonian," for which BIG is designing its new South Campus (WASHINGTON POST, 1/23).
