ArenaVisual Background:
Sports facilities are large buildings by default, and consequently they make a large visual impact on the cities they serve. This brief survey will ask you to rate sports facilities on a visual scale. Please do not consider how much you like or dislike the team(s) that play(s) inside the arena. Try to look at the facilities from a visual/aesthetic perspective only. 
Note:
Although the Arco Arena tax issue is currently hot news locally, this informal survey is not about opinions related to arena funding, and therefore, you will not be asked your opinions related to arena funding. A fascinating topic to be sure, it has been covered from both pro and con positions in the Sacramento Bee and the Sacramento Business Journal. For a list of links to recent articles, click here. (There are also numerous books and academic articles from the disciplines of Urban Geography, Tourism, Event Planning, Hospitality, Urban Planning, Architecture,  Sports Management, Parks Management, Landscape Architecture and Urban Economics on arenas/stadiums and funding methods throughout sports facility history. Quick academic searches from your local university library or even on Amazon can lead you to several of those.)
 

Step Into the  Aesthetic Arena

Your turn to play architecture critic. Using a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), rate the following arenas/stadiums aesthetically. In other words, how attractive is the facility to you? (Some of these facilities are still under construction or are in the proposal stage, so the most recent models and renderings have been used to give you the best idea of what they will look like. Dates given indicate when the facility opened or will open.) You can click the pictures for a larger image.
 

 

Staples Center       NBBJ       Los Angeles, CA     1999
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 

 

FedExForum       Ellerbe-Becket       Memphis, TN       2004
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

 

 

Olympic Velodrome       Santiago Calatrava       Athens, Greece       2004
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Sprint Center       Ellerbe-Becket/HOK       Kansas City, MO       2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Arco Arena       Rann Haight      Sacramento, CA       1988
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Bobcats Arena       Ellerbe-Becket       Charlotte, NC      2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Brooklyn Nets Arena       Frank Gehry       Brooklyn, NY       2009?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Allianz Arena       Herzog + de Meuron       Munich, Germany       2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

American Airlines Center       HKS       Dallas, TX       2001
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

American Airlines Arena       Arquitectonica       Miami, FL       1999
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Rose Garden Arena       Ellerbe-Becket       Portland, OR       1993
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Wembley Stadium       Norman Foster/HOK       Wembley, England      2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Pepsi Center       HOK       Denver, CO      1997
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

Philips Arena       HOK       Atlanta, GA     1999
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 

National Swimming Center "Water Cube"       PTW       Beijing, China      2008
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 
 
 
Please take a moment to tell us a little about yourself. This information is helpful in discovering patterns in the responses given above. We appreciate you answering each question.
Are you a sports fan? Rank the level to which you enjoy watching sports.  
:-( do not enjoy   neutral   greatly enjoy :-)
Are you an "architecture fan?" Rank the level to which you enjoy looking at architecture.      
 :-( do not enjoy   neutral   greatly enjoy :-)
In your opinion, should civic buildings/facilities be aesthetically pleasing?         
Yes No
In your opinion, can an arena/a stadium affect the overall "aesthetic quality" of a city?          
Yes No
In your opinion, it is best when an arena/a stadium...         
Blends in with the surrounding buildings/environment (so that it is hardly noticed)
Stands out from the surrounding buildings/environment (and becomes an icon for the city)
In your opinion, it is best when an arena/a stadium...         
Uses traditional/standard architecture
Uses innovative/unique architecture
In your opinion, the facility architecture...      
Can affect the experience of visiting an arena/a stadium for a game, concert or event
Has no effect on the experience of visiting an arena/a stadium for a game, concert or event
In relation to tourism, I think...      
Tourists are more likely to visit an arena/a stadium located in a city's downtown
Tourists are more likely to visit an arena/a stadium located in the suburbs
After seeing the images of the arenas/stadiums presented here in ArenaVisual, I can say that...    
I already knew what all/most of these facilities looked like 
I did not know what most/any of these facilities looked like 
What is your gender?          
Male Female
What is your age? What is your occupation?
               
Please list your primary place of residence.     
City 
County 
State 
If you do not live in the United States, what is your country of residence? 
 
Thank you for your input. Please click the "send" button below.