Arena das Dunas

About

The Arena das Dunas ("Dunes Arena") is a football stadium in Natal, Brazil. It has a capacity of 31,375 spectators, and was designed by sports architect Christopher Lee of Populous. The stadium hosted football matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil. During the tournament, it had a seating capacity of 42,000. It was built in place of the Machadão, which was demolished in 2011. This project replaced an old project called "Estádio Estrela dos Reis Magos" that would have been located in the neighbouring municipality of Parnamirim. In the new project, a shopping centre and commercial buildings, hotels of international standard and an artificial lake around the stadium will be built. The stadium is located by the Senador Salgado Filho Avenue (BR-101 highway), a multi-lane road already served by the Complexo Viário do Quarto Centenário (Fourth Centennial Complex road or Complexo Viário Senador Carlos Alberto de Sousa). The project received high praise from FIFA inspectors.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.