Puskás Aréna in the final of Stadium of the Year’s Jury Award

Hungary’s new national stadium has reached the final stage of Stadium of the Year’s Jury Award. This vote celebrates the best of sports architecture and it might once more be won by a Hungarian venue, following last year’s title for DVTK Stadion.

There were nearly 30 modern stadiums opened around the world in 2019. 21 of them qualified to run for Stadium of the Year awards. Now the final list of 10 stadiums has been revealed for the prestigious Jury Award.

Puskás Aréna is one of the largest stadiums opened last year, competing in terms of scale only with Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. All three are have qualified for the final consideration of this year’s Jury.

Interestingly, for the first time ever, it’s actually Asian stadiums that constitute most of the list of finalists. Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar, the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, two Chinese stadia (in Datong and Wuhan) and a surprising debut from the Philippines (New Clark City Stadium) have also made it on the list. Finally, Australia’s Bankwest Stadium is the last finalist.

Why should Puskás Aréna win?

Budapest’s new treasure represents quality architecture with great respect to its site’s heritage. It’s rarely seen for a new stadium to be designed with such attention to historical elements of its predecessor. The latticework staircases and eastern tower are monuments of history and yet fit almost perfectly within the modern form.