Tokyo 2020 Olympic stadium design 'doomed from the start'
For many, the final scrapping of the oversized arena on Friday was almost two years overdue
It was to land in the middle of Tokyo's Meiji Park like an intergalactic bike helmet, bulging above its low-rise surroundings in futuristic white arcs, but now Zaha Hadid's design for the 2020 Olympic stadium will be no more.
With costs escalating to 252 billion yen (HK$15.7 billion) - almost double the original budget and making it the most expensive stadium of modern times - the oversized arena was finally scrapped on Friday.
For many, the project's cancellation was almost two years overdue. Ever since it was unveiled in 2013, the design had faced fierce criticism from all quarters, suggesting it was doomed from the start.
Japan's most eminent architects came out all guns blazing when the designs were first released, organising a symposium against the scheme which resulted in a petition calling for the project to be stopped, describing the design as a "monstrosity completely out of scale with the surrounding mixed-residential environs".
They highlighted the fact that the stadium sat in a historic area with a 20-metre height limit on new buildings, yet Hadid's scheme would have risen to 70 metres, looming over the gardens of the Meiji shrine. Led by Pritzker prize-winner Fumihiko Maki, along with Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma and Sou Fujimoto, the petition gained more than 80,000 signatures - the same as the capacity as the planned megastructure.
The petition was swiftly followed by a blistering assault from Arata Isozaki, architect of Barcelona's Olympic stadium, who described Hadid's project as a "monumental mistake" and warned it would be a "disgrace to future generations".
As ever, Hadid was quick to bat away her critics, describing the attacks from her fellow architects as "embarrassing for them".