Montreal Olympic Stadium by MagikUnicorn
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
Montreal Olympic Stadium
The Olympic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada built as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics. It subsequently became the home of Montreal's professional baseball and Canadian football teams. Since 2004, when the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, D.C., the stadium has no main tenant, and with a history of financial and structural problems, is largely seen as a white elephant.
It currently serves as a 66,040-seat multipurpose facility for special events (e.g. concerts, trade shows), and continues to serve as a 76,308-seat venue for playoff and Grey Cup games hosted by the Montreal Alouettes. The Montreal Impact also use the stadium on occasion when a larger capacity venue is needed or when the weather restricts outdoor play in the spring months. La tour de Montréal, the tower incorporated into the base of the stadium, is the tallest inclined tower in the world at 175 metres, and is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.
The stadium's nickname The Big O is a reference to both its name and to the doughnut-shape of the permanent component of the stadium's roof, though The Big Owe has been used to reference the astronomical cost of the stadium and the 1976 Olympics as a whole.
Pink Floyd attracted the largest ever paid crowd to the Olympic Stadium. The July 6, 1977 event gathered 79,322 fans
It is the largest stadium, by seating capacity, in Canada.
The stadium was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert to be a very elaborate facility featuring a retractable roof, which was to be opened and closed by a huge 175-metre (574 ft) tower – the tallest inclined structure in the world, and the sixth tallest building in Montreal. The design of the stadium is remarkably similar to the Australia Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka by Queensland University architect James MacCormick.
The Olympic swimming pool is located under this tower. An Olympic velodrome (since converted to the Montreal Biodome, an indoor nature museum) was situated at the base of the tower in a building similar in design to the swimming pool. The building was built as the main stadium for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. The stadium was host to various events including the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, football finals, and the team jumping equestrian events.
The building's design is cited as a masterpiece of Organic Modern architecture. Taillibert based the building on plant and animal forms, aiming to include vertebral structures with sinewy or tentacles, while still following the basic plans of Modern architecture.
The stadium also has various other multipurpose uses.
Montreal hosted Drum Corps International World Championships in 1981 & 1982. The finals were held at Olympic Stadium & prelims at McGill University
On September 11, 1984, Pope John Paul II participated in a youth rally with about 55,000 people in attendance.
Many musical events have taken place at this location, including the famed riots after a Metallica-Guns-N-Roses concert. Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns to his left arm after stepping too close to a pyrotechnics blast during the opening of "Fade to Black". Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another show.
Instead of taking the stage to make up for the event that had just occurred, frontman Axl Rose instead left the stage in a fit, thus ending the concert prematurely, making the fans in attendance angry and confused, which led to the rioting. See GNR-Metallica Stadium Tour.
British rock band Pink Floyd played an infamous concert at the stadium on July 6, 1977, during which bassist Roger Waters registered his disapproval of the audience's rowdy behaviour by spitting in the face of a fan in the front row. This incident provided the main inspiration for Pink Floyd's next album The Wall, which was written largely by Waters.
Thanks
Magik
Comments (60)
MagikUnicorn
Stade Olympique de Montréal Le stade olympique de Montréal, construit pour les Jeux olympiques d'été de 1976, est un stade conçu par l'architecte français Roger Taillibert et muni, selon les plans originaux, d'un toit rétractable. Situé dans le Parc olympique de Montréal, à l'intérieur du quadrilatère formé par la rue Sherbrooke, le boulevard Viau, l'avenue Pierre-de-Coubertin et le boulevard Pie-IX, dans l'arrondissement Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, il est facilement accessible aussi bien en voiture que par le métro. Deux stations du Métro de Montréal y donnent accès : les stations Pie-IX et Viau. Le 4 décembre 1969, le maire de Montréal, Jean Drapeau, annonce officiellement la candidature de Montréal pour la présentation des Jeux olympiques d'été de 1976. Le 12 mai suivant, le Comité international olympique (CIO) annonce qu’il confie à la Ville de Montréal l’organisation des Jeux de 1976. En avril 1972, la ville dévoile la première maquette du futur Stade olympique devant la presse internationale. Il s’agit d’un bâtiment ellipsoïdal ressemblant à un immense coquillage, ouvert au centre et surmonté d’une tour habitable de 175 mètres de hauteur. Le 28 avril 1973, les travaux d'excavation débutent au Parc olympique de Montréal. Entre ce jour et la fin des travaux de terrassement, en décembre 1973, environ 2,12 millions de m³ d’argile et de calcaire ont été enlevés. Le 27 août suivant, les travaux de construction du Vélodrome débutent et le 16 février 1975 sera la date du décintrement de la toiture de cet immeuble vraiment unique. En août 1974, les premiers piliers du Stade, qui sont coulés sur place, commencent à s'élever du sol. En mai 1975, les ouvriers débrayent et ce n’est que le 26 octobre suivant qu'ils reviennent au chantier, ce qui cause un retard important. Alors, le 20 novembre 1975, l'Assemblée nationale du Québec étant inquiète quant à l’éventualité que les Jeux soient annulés, adopte le projet de loi qui crée la Régie des installations olympiques (RIO) pour prendre en charge la construction des installations du Parc olympique. À la fin du mois de novembre 1975, les retards des travaux de construction du Stade et des piscines met en péril la tenue des Jeux olympiques qui doivent se tenir le 17 juillet 1976. Les membres de la RIO pensent qu’il serait impossible de terminer les constructions à temps selon le plan entier. La RIO prend des mesures pour augmenter la vitesse des travaux. Le 7 avril, on enlève les grues et les équipements lourds du centre du stade pour permettre la pose du gazon et l’aménagement de la piste d’athlétisme. Le 10 mai, les deux tableaux d’affichage et le tiers des sièges sont installés dans le stade et la pelouse est installée. Le 9 juillet, les travaux de construction du stade sont terminés, à l’exception des aménagements extérieurs et de la tour. Le 17 juillet 1976, à 15 heures, 12 000 athlètes venus de tous les coins du monde défilent devant plus de 76 000 spectateurs. Le 15 avril 1977, les Expos de Montréal disputent leur premier match à domicile dans ce stade. C'est le 29 septembre 2004 que l'équipe joue son dernier match au stade olympique. En 2001, la capacité du bâtiment fut augmentée de 9 255 sièges afin d'accueillir la Coupe Grey du 25 novembre. En 2009, Bordeaux-Guingamp se dispute un match dans ce stade à l'occasion du Trophée des Champions opposant Bordeaux, le champion de France, à Guingamp, le vainqueur de la Coupe de France dans le but de promouvoir le soccer au Québec. Merci Magik
MagikUnicorn
GREAT DETAILS WITH ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
kbrog
Your not fooling me! That's one of them UFO's they have been hiding in plan sight, like the ones in New York City's old World's Fair grounds. ;D Excellent POV and capture!
magnus073
Magik, c'est une photo fantastique mon ami. Le Stade Olympique de Montréal est magnifique et il a une grande histoire. J'ai examiné la grande photo et c'était fascinant
GreenHawke
Nice shot!
evielouise
It's a beautiful stadium the ace of all aces! been there great picture real!~
MOSKETON
PARECE UN PLATILLO VOLANTE.
MaraP
Excellent capture, thx for sharing!
Faemike55
Wonderful image and great and interesting history
lyron
Great capture!!
KnightWolverine
Rather cool looking architecture..Wide lens on this one huh?...big effing stadium.. -Will-
jocko500
a big place. cool shot
hipps13
a bit odd looking with a smile different is good as round goes out wonderful capture warm hugs, Linda
anitalee
Nice shot
bazza
Great photo Magik and wonderful info.. This building looks like a space ship lol..
renecyberdoc
very nice shot and explanations.
mininessie
amazing!
mariogiannecchini
Wonderful image and info !
Rose-Lignes
great picture and architecture! like the way you always share some info on the building etc :)
jayfar
Quite a building. Great shot Magik.
delaorden_ojeda
great composition , looks like a ufo , very impresive image and composition , excelente !
UteBigSmile
It's an fantastic one!!!
RodolfoCiminelli
Impressive building and splendid photography my friend.....!!!!
J5ive
Whoa Thats a Great Shot Magik!! Looks Like an Aliean Space craft!!
DAVER2112
Wow! The aliens have landed!! Cool architecture and capture. :)
eekdog
great pic!
flavia49
fantastic building!! and splendid POV!!
thecytron
Great shot!
tcombs
I thought this was Bryce spacecraft at first.:) Cool.
annie5
Son architecture est plus que moderne mais je ne sais pas s'il aura la même apparence dans l'avenir! belle photo :)