When the architectural design firm Populous celebrated its 25th anniversary, it commemorated that landmark with a book of its projects. For its 40th anniversary this year, the firm wanted to do something more: to convey the excitement of fans who attended sporting and entertainment events in and around stadiums and arenas that Populous played a pivotal role in creating.
In partnership with Getty Images, Populous curated “Live Emotion,” an exhibit of striking photographs from Getty’s and Populous’ archives that focus on the firm’s work over the past four decades.
Sixty-one images in total were available to be mounted for the exhibit, which debuted at Noho Showrooms in London on November 25, and last weekend within 9,669 sf of gallery space on the first floor of The Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York. The exhibit, which has been open to the public, will also be shown in Brisbane, Australia.
(Click here to see the digital interactive gallery)
Photos trigger memories
The exhibit includes a diversity of photos of such well-known venues as O2 Arena and Wembley Stadium in London, Yankee Stadium in New York, the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, and the 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Gujarat, India.
Earl Santee, Populous’ Global Chair and Founder, told BD+C that the motivation behind the exhibit was to “trigger” in its visitors at least a semblance of the personal emotions that sport events evoke in their fans. In fact, he pointed out how photography of sporting venues is more likely to focus on the athletes, performers, and fans than the building itself. That is even truer today, as many sports venues are being designed to be components of year-round destinations.
“We’ve always viewed our [sports and entertainment] buildings as mid-size convention centers,” quipped Scott Capstack, Populous’ Senior Principal and Design Director. Capstack and Santee also pointed out that some newer sports and entertainment venues can have as many as 20 to 25 “mini destinations” like restaurants, performance spaces, gift shops, and so forth, all with the potential for creating memories for visitors.
![Yankee Stadium, New York City. Image: Christine Radecic/Populous](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Yankee%20Stadium.png)
![Climate Pledge Arena](/sites/default/files/inline-images/CLimate%20Pledge.png)
![](/sites/default/files/inline-images/CommBank.png)
Related Stories
| Mar 14, 2011
Renowned sustainable architect Charles D. Knight to lead Cannon Design’s Phoenix office
Cannon Design is pleased to announce that Charles D. Knight, AIA, CID, LEED AP, has joined the firm as principal. Knight will serve as the leader of the Phoenix office with a focus on advancing the firm’s healthcare practice. Knight brings over 25 years of experience and is an internationally recognized architect who has won numerous awards for his unique contributions to the sustainable and humanistic design of healthcare facilities.
| Mar 11, 2011
University of Oregon scores with new $227 million basketball arena
The University of Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena opened January 13 with a men’s basketball game against USC where the Ducks beat the Trojans, 68-62. The $227 million arena, which replaces the school’s 84-year-old McArthur Court, has a seating bowl pitched at 36 degrees to replicate the close-to-the-action feel of the smaller arena it replaced, although this new one accommodates 12,364 fans.
| Mar 11, 2011
Temporary modular building at Harvard targets sustainability
Anderson Anderson Architecture of San Francisco designed the Harvard Yard childcare facility, a modular building manufactured by Triumph Modular of Littleton, Mass., that was installed at Harvard University. The 5,700-sf facility will remain on the university’s Cambridge, Mass., campus for 18 months while the Harvard Yard Child Care Center and the Oxford Street Daycare Coop are being renovated.
| Mar 11, 2011
Holiday Inn reworked for Downtown Disney Resort
The Orlando, Fla., office of VOA Associates completed a comprehensive interior and exterior renovation of the 14-story Holiday Inn in the Downtown Disney Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The $25 million project involved rehabbing the hotel’s 332 guest rooms, atrium, swimming pool, restaurant, fitness center, and administrative spaces.
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Research facility added to Texas Medical Center
Situated on the Texas Medical Center’s North Campus in Houston, the new Methodist Hospital Research Institute is a 12-story, 440,000-sf facility dedicated to translational research. Designed by New York City-based Kohn Pedersen Fox, with healthcare, science, and technology firm WHR Architects, Houston, the building has open, flexible labs, offices, and amenities for use by 90 principal investigators and 800 post-doc trainees and staff.
| Mar 11, 2011
Blockbuster remodel transforms Omaha video store into a bank
A former Hollywood Video store in Omaha, Neb., was renovated and repurposed as the SAC Federal Credit Union, Ames Branch. Architects at Leo A Daly transformed the outdated 5,000-sf retail space into a modern facility by wrapping the exterior in poplar siding and adding a new glass storefront that floods the interior with natural light.
| Mar 11, 2011
Historic McKim Mead White facility restored at Columbia University
Faculty House, a 1923 McKim Mead White building on Columbia University’s East Campus, could no longer support the school’s needs, so the historic 38,000-sf building was transformed into a modern faculty dining room, graduate student meeting center, and event space for visiting lecturers, large banquets, and alumni organizations.
| Mar 11, 2011
Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care
The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.
| Mar 11, 2011
Oregon childhood center designed at child-friendly scale
Design of the Early Childhood Center at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., focused on a achieving a child-friendly scale and providing outdoor learning environments.