Richard Rogers "has hit out at the move to drop Zaha Hadid Architects" from the £1.3B ($2B) Tokyo Olympic Stadium, according to Laura Mack of ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. Rogers, "who judged the original contest which handed the stadium design to Zaha Hadid Architects, expressed his concern" after Japan PM Shinzo Abe called for a rethink. He said, "For Japan to lose their nerve now, and abandon a design by one of the world’s foremost living architects that was selected by an international jury, will not only result in a poorer quality stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but also in damage to Japan’s international credibility, and reputation as a promoter of world-class architectural design." Rogers added, "Every major project faces challenges, but architect and client can almost always work together to resolve them. If the design needs to change in response to cost or other issues, I am sure that the Zaha Hadid Architects team would be willing to make them." Zaha Hadid Architects insisted it had offered to alter its designs for the Tokyo 2020 Games centerpiece venue "to achieve a lower construction price," but that it received no requests to do so (ARCHITECTS JOURNAL, 8/12).
