The construction of the new National Stadium, the main venue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, was completed Saturday in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, three years after the start of construction of the main building in December 2016.
The stadium has seating for about 60,000 spectators. Elements of "Japanese essence" feature in the stadium through the use of traditional Japanese architectural techniques and a significant amount of Japanese lumber.
Initially, a design by the late Zaha Hadid was adopted for the stadium in 2012, but was scrapped in 2015 in the face of criticism against mounting costs to build the facility.
A design by Kengo Kuma, 65, was then chosen, and construction began 14 months behind its originally scheduled starting date. The total cost was about 156.9 billion yen, below the 159 billion yen ceiling set in the construction plan.
Officially called the National Stadium, it will be known as the Olympic Stadium during the Tokyo Games.
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