Barclays Center is part of the ambitious development project Atlantic Yards, which provides for the construction of residential and commercial real estate and is implemented with the participation of the ONEXIM Group. The opening of the new stadium took place on September 21, when the popular hip-hop performer Jay-Z was the first to perform at the Barclays Center.
The history of the construction of the stadium is quite long and confusing. The building, like the entire large-scale complex, was designed by Frank Gary back in the mid-2000s, but due to the crisis and active protests of the local population, the famous master's plan was never realized. In 2009, the client, Forest City Ratner Companies, and contractor Hunt Construction Group turned to the renowned sports arena specialists Ellerbe Becket (part of the AECOM group), who not only developed a new stadium design, but also began to build it. However, public opinion forced the customer to change the project again. So the order for the Barclays Center got to the SHoP Architects bureau, which in the end turned out to be more successful than its predecessors. Perhaps the key to success lay in the extremely tight deadlines - the architects had no time to come up with and change the project for a very long time, since in just seven weeks they had to propose and economically justify a new solution, while preserving the already erected structures to the maximum.
The facades of the basketball center (its total area is almost 63,000 square meters) form three "ribbons", the surfaces of which are lined with plates of low-alloy steel, artificially covered with rust (a total of 12 thousand fragments or 600 tons of steel). The architects lifted one of the "ribbons", revealing the internal structure of the building. And at a height of about 9 meters, they made a kind of protective "visor" out of it, hanging over an open triangular square and a metro station hidden behind a sloping green "lawn".
In the central part of the canopy, a giant "oculus" is cut, the inner surface of which is lined with LED screens with a total area of about 280 sq.m. This giant information board of the stadium is visible from almost any point, not only for the fans heading towards the stadium, but also for bystanders. A public space has been organized in front of the building, which, according to the architects, will become the center of attraction for the residents of the district.
