Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki is "campaigning to reduce the size of the spaceship-like main stadium approved for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, saying it's too expensive and would clash with its surroundings," according to the AP. Maki said that he is "not criticizing the design of the stadium by award-winning British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, just the size." His office said that he has the "support of 100 other well-known people in Japan, including architects." Maki said in a statement, "The problems I see with the planned stadium all relate to the issue of scale." The site sits in the "middle of a downtown Tokyo park within walking distance of shopping malls, high-rise buildings, a Shinto shrine and a famous venue designed by Kenzo Tange for the 1964 Games" (AP, 10/16). The EFE reported the the Tokyo Olympic Stadium project has "unleashed a controversy in Japan after one of the country's most prestigious architects has been critical." Maki, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in '93, "will launch a campaign urging a reconsideration of the project." Remodeling Tokyo's Olympic Stadium "will involve demolishing the current stadium and building a new one with a retractable roof and a capacity of 80,000." The project "is scheduled to be complete by 2019" and will cost €973M ($1.3B). Maki said that "a city that is expecting to have 15% less people by 2050 does not need a stadium for 80,000 people, with almost 900 parking spaces." Maki: "It would not be very profitable" (EFE, 10/17).
