CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – The New Clark City Athletics Stadium in Tarlac has been shortlisted by the World Architecture Festival as among the best building structures worldwide. The facility figured prominently during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games
The facility was nominated for the Sport-Completed Buildings category in the prestigious festival, which is set to take place at the FIL Exhibition Center in Lisbon, Portugal from December 1 to 3 this year.
Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president and chief executive officer Vince Dizon expressed elation and welcomed the recognition. He congratulated the Budji+Royal Architecture+Design, the architectural partner for the stadium, as well as thousands of workers who made the Athletics Stadium a reality.
In a statement, Dizon said: “We thank the World Architecture Festival for giving its nod to the New Clark City Athletics Stadium. It is another testament to the ingenuity of the stadium’s design and structure. Indeed, this is more proof that Filipinos can also be champions in producing outstanding facilities that are on par with other architectural masterpieces in the world.”
Dizon said the recognition would not have been possible without the hard work of all the workers who completed the facility in 18 months only. “To our partners in Budji+Royal Architecture+Design, thank you for designing a structure that best showcases the beauty of the Filipino spirit to the rest of the globe,” he added.
Royal Pineda, principal architect and CEO of Budji+Royal, for his part, said: “To share the New Clark City Athletics Stadium’s authentic nature and identity with our colleagues and an international audience makes me really very happy and proud. That was the objective anyway – to present our variety as modern Filipinos through architecture and design.”
Pineda also expressed appreciation for BCDA over their smooth collaboration on the project where the two organizations’ shared their vision of a modern Philippines.
“We were on the same creative wavelength. Given critical deadlines, BCDA’s leadership was a key element. It allowed things to move with precision, which ensured timely and quality turnover, setting new government standards,” Pineda added.
The New Clark City Athletics Stadium’s design was executed by MTD Philippines Inc., BCDA’s development partner in New Clark City. It is the first major sports hub constructed by the government since the completion of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in 1934.
The Stadium is also the first-ever facility in the country to receive a Class 1 certification from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). With a 20,000-seating capacity, a nine-lane 400-meter track and field, and another four-lane warm-up track, it served as the main venue of the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
The New Clark City Athletics Stadium was previously nominated as one of the top 10 best stadiums in the world at the annual Stadium of the Year Awards.
“Its design was inspired by its genius loci (or the pervading spirit of a place). It celebrates Mt. Pinatubo and Filipino resilience. The location is surrounded by beautiful mountains and a boundless horizon, which allowed the architecture to stand out and frame the natural views,” Pineda shared.
The World Architecture Festival, now in its 13th year, is one of
the world’s largest architectural events, highlighted by its awards competition dedicated to celebrating and sharing international excellence in architecture.
Its sister festival, the Inside World Festival of Interiors, will also take place simultaneously with it in Lisbon. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were moved from their 2020 schedule. The upcoming competition will thus cover entries made in 2020 and 2021.
The shortlist of entries was announced last July. They will compete in Lisbon, Portugal this December. Pineda said Budji+Royal is doing all the necessary preparations for the panel at the live event.
“How to best express the story behind the Athletics Stadium is critical. I’d like to be able to make the jury and audience discover and understand the status of our nation, our memories and aspirations,” he explained.