Vodafone Arena

Location

In 1936, the French architect and city planner Henri Prost (1874–1959) was invited to Turkey by President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He was tasked with the preparation of Istanbul's rough-cut urban planning and rebuilding, which lasted until 1951. In the first plan, Prost thought that the district of Şişli might be a good location for a city stadium. However, the governor of Istanbul, Muhittin Üstündağ, asked Prost to put the stadium to Dolmabahçe district instead of the stable of the Dolmabahçe Palace as a fait accompli in his master city plan, which came into force in 1939.

Construction

The BJK İnönü Stadium, originally named the Dolmabahçe Stadium, was designed by Italian architect Paolo Vietti-Violi, who collaborated with Turkish architects Şinasi Şahingiray and Fazıl Aysu for preparing the project. The first foundation was laid on May 19, 1939, but construction was halted due to the outbreak of the Second World War. The stadium was inaugurated on May 19, 1947, by İsmet İnönü, the second President of Turkey and himself a Beşiktaş fan, and Lütfi Kırdar, the Governor of Istanbul.

The initial capacity was 16,000. In the original project plan, there were two bronze statues of athlete figures at the Eski Açık stand: one throwing a discus, and the other throwing a javelin. However, the statues were never built due to financial concerns. The oil factory which was found behind the stadium was demolished to construct the Yeni Açık stand at the west part of the stadium in 1950 (hence the name Yeni Açık, meaning the New Open-top; referring to the two covered stands (Numaralı and Kapalı) and the two open-top stands (Eski Açık and Yeni Açık).) In 1952, the stadium was renamed as the Mithat Paşa Stadium, and later in 1973, it was renamed as the İnönü Stadium. A leasing contract was signed between Beşiktaş J.K. and the Ministry of Youth and Sports in February 1998 which gave all usage rights of the İnönü Stadium to Beşiktaş JK for 49 years.

First Football Match

The first football match at the Dolmabahçe Stadium took place between Beşiktaş J.K. and AIK Stockholm of Sweden, on November 27, 1947, and the first goal in the stadium was scored by Süleyman Seba; the most famous and longest-presiding Chairman of the club (in the 1980s and 1990s) when he used to be a player of Beşiktaş JK. Beşiktaş lost this match 3–2.

Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahce S.K. shared the stadium with Beşiktaş JK for many years, before the construction of the Ali Sami Yen Stadium for Galatasaray in 1964, and the renovation of the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium for Fenerbahçe S.K. in 1982.

Renovation

Renovation work took place at the BJK İnönü Stadium in 2004. The tartan track was removed within the scope of these activities and the ground level was lowered by 4 metres to increase the capacity of the stadium to 32,145 spectators. The press seats were relocated to the Numaralı tribune from the Kapalı tribune. The lounges that were found in the middle of the Kapalı tribune were demolished. The number of gates was doubled. A press centre for Beşiktaş TV was built inside the stadium. The restrooms and food counters were renewed. The Yeni Açık stand was covered with a metallic structure. The stadium complies with UEFA standards.

New Stadium Project

Due to the unique location of the BJK İnönü Stadium, which is considered as one of the best stadiums in the world, and its legal status as a "historic monument" protected by the High Council of Monuments of Turkey, the renewal project had to be modified and postponed several times and all official requests, efforts, renewal attempts were denied. In 2008, former president Yildirim Demirören launched a project designed by HOK sports, with a design capacity of 42,000 spectators. However, this project was also cancelled because of concerns regarding how the new project didn't suit the historical environment of Beşiktaş. Finally, in 2013, current president Fikret Orman completed the administrative procedures after long extended bureaucratic exchanges, and got all the required permissions by proposing specific design goals.

December 2016 bombing

On 10 December 2016, two bombs exploded outside the stadium, killing at least 46 (38 police officer, 8 civilian) and injuring 136. The first and larger explosion took place about 7:30 p.m. after the home team Besiktas beat visitor Bursaspor 2-1 in the Turkish Super League. An official with knowledge of the attack said that the timing of the bombing aimed to maximize the loss of life.The civilian death toll was lower because fans had already left the newly built Vodafone Arena Stadium after the soccer match when the blasts occurred. Witnesses also heard gunfire after the explosions. Officials have said that the first explosion was caused by a passing vehicle that detonated in an area where police special forces were located at the stadium exit. A riot police bus appears to have been the target. Turkish officials said a person who had been stopped in nearby Macka Park committed suicide by triggering explosives moments later.

Design

Vodafone Arena was designed by the architect firm DB Architects. Bünyamin Derman served as the project Architect of record. The stadium meets UEFA 4-category criteria, the strictest in the ranking defined by UEFA regulations for stadium infrastructure.

Vodafone Arena differs from modern stadiums by 3 design goals imposed by the authority and nature of the construction site. Thanks to these design goals the architecture of the stadium reflects history, heritage and prosperity.

Colosseum (Coliseum) Architecture

Due to existence of the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Dolmabahçe Clock Tower, the Dolmabahçe Mosque and of course the Bosphorus, which are very close to Vodafone Arena, the Turkish High Council of Monuments demanded an ancient look which should fit the surrounding historical area. Most of the proposed architectural designs for new stadium were modern structures, with glossy extern revetment made from metal, glass or composite materials. Hence to accomplish the first design goal, a colosseum architecture was proposed to and accepted by the high council. Colosseum architecture was previously used in stadiums such as the (Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and Busch Memorial Stadium, etc.), but mostly several decades ago.

Waveform Stands

In modern stadiums the height of the stands are mostly at the same level. Since the construction site of Vodafone Arena is too narrow and surrounded by roads, the height of the stands decrease specifically at the corners and widen at the edges. The varying elevation creates a significant waveform-shape in the stands and gives a traditional look. The height of the east stand is very low which is another design goal imposed by the High Council so as not affect the silhouette of the Bosphorus.

Elliptical Design

The design of the majority of modern football stadiums are mostly square, rectangular with rounded corners, or circular. The stadiums, which were built during the 20th century, include tartan tracks, especially Olympic stadiums. Due to the tartan tracks, the old stadiums have elliptical forms like the old Inönü stadium. To be faithful to the previous architecture which was designed in 1939 and coherent with the remaining historical two towers of the old Inönü stadium, Vodafone Arena also has an elliptical form, although there is no tartan track inside the stadium. Proposed design repeats the same idea of perfect symmetry reached in 1939 by extending the main arc between the two old towers through all structure.

Environmental Compatibility

The new stadium project aimed to ensure a low environmental impact to the nature and its surroundings via the use of advanced state of the art sustainable technologies. This stadium will be constructed to reduce energy consumption from non-renewable energy sources by reducing waste and optimizing the resources available.The Green Building concept of Vodafone Arena ensures environment friendly and resource efficient processes at each stage of construction, right from site selection and designing to construction by using Green Building certified construction materials, operation followed by maintenance, renovation or even demolition to seek minimum possible impact on environment.

The stadium will produce the electricity it needs using solar energy captured through photovoltaic panels which can produce 500 kVA per year. This corresponds to an annual electricity consumption of about 100 average households and a CO2 saving of around 250 tonnes. The stadium will store rainwater in cisterns to use later for watering the pitch and other purposes. These alternative energy sources are aimed at helping stadium meet the criteria dictated by the Kyoto protocol by generating multiple results:

All concrete and metal parts from the old demolished BJK Inönü Stadium have been separated and reused; other materials left have been divided into categories, in order to be recycled, resold, or reused.

Historical Monument

The stands behind the goal areas were called Eski Açık (Old Tribune) with a seating capacity of 7,962. There are two towers on the left and right side of the Eski Açık stands and an iron gate in the middle of 2 towers. The towers and the gate were preserved as a hictorical monument during the construction of the new site.

Naming Rights

Beşiktaş signed a $145 million deal with Vodafone on 21 August 2013. The deal includes shirt sponsorship for 3 (+2 optional) years, stadium naming rights (to be named 'Vodafone Arena'), advertising, and stadium technology infrastructure investment rights for 10 (+5 optional) years.

Awards

Construction of the Foundation

Capacity

Pitch Dimensions

Roof

The lightweight cable roof is designed as a classic looped cable roof containing one compression and one tension ring. While the majority of the roof is covered with a membrane, the inner edge has a glass roof. The roof of Vodafone Arena is composed of 260 tons of 246 rope assemblies. The inner tension ring, which is made of 8 Ø110 mm full locked coil ropes with a single length of nearly 200 meters, is connected to the outer compression ring by radial cables that consist of full locked coil ropes with Ø110, Ø85, Ø65 and Ø45 mm.

BJK İnönü Stadium Era

Previously, while Vodafone Arena was the BJK İnönü Stadium, it had been used for many major music concerts including:

Inauguration

The opening ceremony of the stadium was held on 11 April 2016, with a Süper Lig match against Bursaspor. Beşiktaş fans walked though the wooded road down the red carpet laid between Beşiktaş and Kabataş; Fans had been launching flares since 16:00 in the Beşiktaş district, well before the opening ceremony. The game ended 3–2 with two goals from Mario Gómez and one from Alexis. In the 22nd minute of the game, during an attack initiated by Oğuzhan Özyakup, the ball met José Sosa, who sent a fine pass behind the defense outside the penalty area. Gómez controlled it in the penalty area, slipped away from goalkeeper Harun Tekin and scored the very first goal at Vodafone Arena.

Transport Connections

Vodafone Arena is situated in the heart of the city centre surrounded by many transport facilities. A 5-minute walk is enough to reach to the stadium from Taksim square which is the most important transportation hub of Istanbul served by many bus lines, metro (M2) and the Kabataş-Taksim Funicular (F1). The Kabataş tram (T1) can also be used to plan your journey to Vodafone Arena. Sea transport is also available for visitors who want to arrive from the Anatolian Side of Istanbul by using Beşiktaş-Kadıköy, Beşiktaş-Üsküdar ferries or Bostanci-Kabataş Fast Ferry.

Nearby stations are: