The "competition to design Real Madrid's new Santiago Bernabéu stadium has a winner," according to Álvaro De Cózar of EL PAIS. Real has chosen the "project presented by German firm GMP Architekten and the studios L-35 and Ribas&Ribas over those from Rafael Moneo and Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron; Norman Foster and Rafael de la Hoz; and Carlos Lamela and Populous." All four bid teams "received a call from Real on Wednesday informing them of the decision." Spanning "two years, the competition has not been without controversy." First of all, it was "put out to tender twice." After the "first versions of the projects were presented" in Sept. '12, the club decided that as well as transforming the stadium into "an icon of the capital, it also needed to serve to significantly increase its income." Real then asked the architects to "redesign their initial projects to include such things as a hotel and shopping mall, as well as space for a potential sponsor" to provide €200M ($271M) of the €400M ($542M) project in "exchange for having its name attached to the new stadium." The firms presented their new designs "before the summer of last year" (EL PAIS, 1/30).
GRAND PRESENTATION: The EP reported Real will present the winners during a press conference at 1pm on Friday in "the Directors’ box at the Bernabéu." GMP Architekten said that its "architectural interpretation" is characterized by Vitruvian ideas -- the ideals of "solidity, utility and beauty," which are named after Roman architect Vitruvius. The German firm was "behind the Berlin Tegel building with its drive-in airplane terminal for 'stacked parking' as well as projects like the New Trade Fair in Leipzig, the Rimini Exhibition Center" and the Christ Pavilion for the EXPO 2000 (EP, 1/30).
