Claude Costantini was born on 17 April 1948. Together with Michel Regembal, he founded the architectural firm CR Architecture in 1987. Their greatest achievement is of course the Stade de France, inaugurated in 1998. The team of architects is composed of two offices: CR Architecture and S.C.A.U office of Michel Macary and Aymeric Zublena.
Photo: © SCAU
The Stade de France is the largest French stadium with 80,000 seats in football/rugby configuration. It is located in the Plaine Saint-Denis district in Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is the work of four architects: Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Michel Regembal and Claude Costantini.
Photo: via Cabinet Altius
The roof, a 46-metre floating structure above the pitch, is one of the most remarkable aspects of the Stade de France. Aymeric Zublena, who was inspired by the Worldport (the terminal of New York’s JFK airport), describes it as “a sort of ring of Saturn, which plays with multiple references, the Olympic rings, the athletics disc, the halo of Saint Denis. Its surface and its mass (13,000 tonnes, i.e. two Eiffel Towers) constitute a technical feat. Resting on 18 cable stays, attached to 18 javelin-shaped 60m high needles, it protects the spectators without covering the playing area. All the lighting and sound equipment (550 spotlights and 36 blocks of 5 loudspeakers) are housed inside so that visibility is not hindered.
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