Original name
Dünamo Staadion [Dynamo Stadium]
Original use
Sports/stadium
Current use
Sports/stadium/grandstand
Architects
Elmar Lohk
Engineers
August Komendant
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
Beams are the horizontal load-bearing elements of the frame. Columns are the vertical elements of the frame and act as the building’s primary load-bearing element. They transmit the beam loads down to the foundations.
The construction of cantilevers creates structures that protrude from their supports without external reinforcements, contrasted with constructions supported at both ends, where the load is distributed between them, like in the case of a beam or a lintel. Formal strategies can be used to improve the structural performance of the cantilever and reduce thicknesses.
A suspended roof refers to the case where the vertical supports do not rest on the ground but hang from a structure above. Steel cables are often used for these supports, since they are only subject to traction forces.
State of Conservation
Description
This small stadium was opened in 1924, although its current appearance is the result of a reconstruction that took place in 1936. Although its use over time has been largely for sports events, it was originally used to host large-scale popular choral singing concerts, a tradition with deep roots in Estonian culture. In its later adaptation for sporting uses, initially centered on track and field, the old historicist style architectural elements were replaced by modern grandstands and a large reinforced concrete sunshade, one of the first and most striking examples of a complex concrete structure built in Estonia.
The huge roof gives the stadium its current characteristic image: with a 13 m cantilever, it covers the premium seating area for officials and part of the stands, up to the very edge of the running track. It is a flat concrete slab, with reinforcements above that vary in section. Its long cantilever is supported by two parallel lines of pillars along the back perimeter, one line working under compression and the other under tension, as well as by a small counterweight. This system achieves an absolutely flat underside, an aspect that stands out for its formal elegance.
In recent decades,r the stadium housed the matches of the national soccer team, until a new stadium was built in 2001.
Estonia
Roheline aas 24
Harju (County) 10150 Tallinn
Commission
1936
Completion
1937