Architect digs deep to come up with Braga 'work of art'

GRAHAM BEAN

LOCATED on the site of an old granite quarry and constructed at a cost of £52million, the Estadio Municipal de Braga is one of the most architecturally stunning stadiums in Europe.

In a town famed chiefly for being Portugal’s religious capital, the ground has proved to be a magnet for tourists. Those who make the trek to see Braga’s many cathedrals now take in the football stadium as well.

When the city was selected to be one of the host venues for Euro 2004, architect Eduardo Souto de Moura was commissioned to come up with a design which would set Braga apart. The Hearts players who take the pitch for tonight’s UEFA Cup match will testify to the fact he has succeeded in some style.

Before work on the stadium began, construction crews removed more than a million square metres of granite from Mount Castro, a mountain overlooking the city. The Municipal Stadium’s unique selling point is that behind each goal is a rock face rather than seating, with the spectators accommodated in two stands running the length of the pitch.

Souto de Moura had no qualms about dispensing with the behind-the-goal seating, reasoning that the best way to watch football was side on, especially in the era of saturation television coverage which has shaped the modern fan’s conception of viewing the game.

"We did not want to build just one more stadium, we wanted to build a model stadium," explained the mayor of Braga, Francisco Mesquita Machado. "There’s no other stadium in the world that looks like this one."

Described as a "work of art" by former SFA secretary Ernie Walker, chairman of UEFA's Stadium and Security Committee, the ground also has an innovative roof design which, rather than covering the whole stadium, allows natural light through to the pitch.

Behind one goal sits a 270 square-metre television screen-cum-scoreboard which claims to be the biggest in Europe. The granite edifice behind the other goal is shallower and allows views of the surrounding countryside.

The 30,000-capacity ground staged just two matches during Euro 2004 before becoming home to SC Braga.

Taken from the Scotsman