image courtesy of CNN;Borisov Arena, Belarus-Today's stadiums are architectural feats of design which must elevate the senses, capture the spirit of a community, and become an icon of the city long after a sports event ends. Here, the distinctive "spotty" Borisov Arena in Belarus is home to the country's football team. The space-age arena opened earlier this year and cost $37 million.

It's a vision of biblical proportions - tens of thousands of people weeping, whooping, and chanting in unison.If sport were a religion, then the stadium would surely be its place of worship.

Inside these temples to physical feats, language evokes the divine - fearful fans "pray for a miracle," while losing prompts serious "soul-searching."So much so that architects these days must create more than a stage for human endurance.

It's as if they have been asked to perform the architectural equivalent of feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish - constructing an arena to elevate the senses, capture the spirit of a community, and become an icon for a city long after the last fan has passed through the turnstiles......Continue Reading

> via CNN