After the declaration of the Japan’s Prime Minister that plans for the new Olympic stadium were to be deleted, in accusation and does not reduce the excessive costs and would not be completed in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup nor the 2020 Olympic Games, Zaha Hadid Architects has released the following statement in response:
“Our teams in Japan and the UK have been working hard with the Japan Sports Council to design a new National Stadium that would be ready to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019, the Tokyo 2020 Games and meet the need for a new home for Japanese sport for the next 50 to 100 years.
It is absolutely right that the benefits and costs of the new National Stadium should be clearly and accurately communicated and understood by the public and decision-makers in Japan and we hope that this is one of the objectives of the review announced by the Prime Minister.
We have used our experience on major sports and cultural projects, including the hugely successful London 2012 Games and legacy, to design a stadium that can be built cost-effectively and still deliver the flexible and robust National Stadium that the Japan Sports Council requires.
It is not the case that the recently reported cost increases are due to the design, which uses standard materials and techniques well within the capability of Japanese contractors and meets the budget set by the Japan Sports Council. The real challenge for the stadium has been agreeing an acceptable construction cost against the backdrop of steep annual increases in construction costs in Tokyo and a fixed deadline.”
Tokyo construction costs are forecast to continue their steep annual increase up to 2019. Just this high rate of construction inflation compounded over the seven years between 2012-2019 will alone add a very significant percentage to the cost of any project in Tokyo planned and built during that period – irrelevant of its design, building type or construction method.
As Tokyo is at the centre of the world’s most seismic region, all of the city’s buildings are required to meet safety codes that are the strictest in the world. The cost of building in Tokyo cannot be accurately compared to those in regions where lower building codes do not anticipate for earthquakes. Source by Zaha Hadid.