Herzog & de Meuron complete the gorgeous solar-powered Bordeaux Stadium

Herzog & de Meuron just completed their stunning solar-powered Bordeaux Stadium and the real thing certainly doesn't disappoint.

The firm initially unveiled its design in 2011 and the new rectangular building is now ready for the Euro 2016 football championship. The 42,000-seat Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux is refreshingly different compared to typologically similar structures built across the globe and features a massive solar photovoltaic plant that will provide energy for sports games and the surrounding area.

From the exterior, the structure looks like an airy agora-like space, with slender columns supporting a thin rectilinear roof which glides inwards to form the curved bowl of the stadium. The monumental appearance of the structure is everything modern stadiums rarely are-graceful, subtle and integrated within its natural surroundings. The numerous columns can be visually interpreted in two ways-they reference “the pattern created by trees and paths” and give the stadium a quality of civic importance and relevancy without creating banal reinterpretations of the city’s historic center.

The structure was officially inaugurated on Monday and will become home of French team FC Girondins de Bordeaux. It will also be used as a venue for music concerts and rugby matches, while its surrounding landscape, designed by French landscape architect Michel Desvigne, will include an area for sporting activities with basketball and tennis courts and children’s playgrounds.