Carson’s City Council recently approved the two NFL team stadium that is to be built at the intersection of the 405 and 110 freeway, making the stadium on step closer becoming tangible. The two-team football venue intended to house the Chargers and the Raiders is sporting new looks as well that includes a more airy, open layout and a tower over 100 feet tall that, on occasion, will shoot lightning bolts. The updated plans show that the oval-shaped, roofless stadium will have a “contiguous exterior” with a large opening at its base. The seating would be arranged in a U around that gap, which the architects believe will “help surround the field with noise.” Seating colors are still being decided, but it’s possible that they’ll be clear so they can “reflect the color of lights shining on them.” The most exciting feature of the updated Carson design is obviously its 115 to120-foot-tall tower, which will be encased in glass, topped with a cauldron, and transformed depending on which team is playing. When the Chargers are on the field, lightning bolts will zap around inside the tower’s glass enclosure. When the Chargers score a touchdown, lightning will shoot out of the top of the tower. When the Raiders are having a home game, the plan is for the cauldron to fill with fire, like the Olympic flame
The latest renderings for the joint football venue come from Manica Architecture. Their version of the stadium is intended to recall the LA Coliseum, but was also inspired by the fluid movement of sports cars (that rendering with a Porsche in the foreground really drives this connection home).
The most exciting feature of the updated Carson design is obviously its 115 to120-foot-tall tower, which will be encased in glass, topped with a cauldron, and transformed depending on which team is playing. When the Chargers are on the field, lightning bolts will zap around inside the tower’s glass enclosure. When the Chargers score a touchdown, lightning will shoot out of the top of the tower. When the Raiders are having a home game, the plan is for the cauldron to fill with fire, like the Olympic flame, as a nod to the late Raiders owner/manager Al Davis. (Unfortunately, “The plan would not call for the flame toburst up from the tower in the event of a Raiders touchdown,” which just seems unfair.) If the Carson stadium ever hosted a Super Bowl, the plan is to turn the tower into an enormous Lombardi Trophy.
SouthLA 