Girl Gymnasts on the Shah's Birthday
Iranian Sports - Photo Album 1
Girl Gymnasts on the Shah's Birthday
Iranian boys and girls of the Karate Team at the Stadium
The innovative architecture at the "Aryamehr Stadium and Olympic Village"
The first exit on the Tehran-Karaj motorway, about three kilometres fror he Shahyad Tower leads to a kind of enormous mound. Its grey colour blend with that of the ground. This piled-up earth supports from the outside the highest tiers of the stadium. It is built like bowl, by digging into the soil, rather tha nfrom ground level, like antique amphitheatres. A large area around the stadiurm is taken up by access roads, immense parking-lots (10,000 cars, 600 buses) and auxiliary buildings. An entirely man-created forest covered nearly 200 hectares. An Olympic Village was built there. Restaurants, including A panoramic one, catered to the public.
Even more unexpected than the green forest in the middle of the ochre plain was the presence of a 28-hectare lake 1,350 metres long, 350 metres wide and averiging 3 meters in depth. Iveraging 6 metres in depth. The water came from five deep wells. This expanse of water in the middle of the desert was intended for nautical events and summer boating for the inhabitants of Tehran.
The one-hundred thousand seat stadium with its two layers of tiers, its athletic tracks and its immense central lawn occupied 110 hectares. Other ground outside of the stadium were set aside for additional sporting facilities. Access and evauation were carried out very rapidly thanks to four entrance-exits and nine tunnels. Acoustics were very carefully planned; a central electronic system ensured perfect audition throughout the stadium. The latest technical devices computers were used for the checking and display of events.