“Modern sports buildings differ from older stadiums by prioritising technology, sustainability, flexibility, and the overall fan and athlete experience,” Allegri explains. But to truly understand that shift, he believes we need to take a step back.
Stadiums through generations
In his research, Allegri describes the evolution of football stadiums as a sequence of six generations, each shaped by its time.
From the first generation (1880–1920), born alongside modern football and mass sport, through the monumental arenas of the interwar period and the largely utilitarian concrete structures of the post-war decades, stadiums were, for a long time, “designed primarily by engineers, where structure and functionality were the protagonists.”
Up until the late 1980s, many stadiums were single-purpose buildings – often inward-looking, disconnected from their surroundings, and, in some cases, “huge bulks of brutalist concrete… out-of-scale urban grafts” that contributed little to city life beyond matchday.
The real turning point came after the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 and the subsequent Taylor Report, which reshaped stadium safety and design, particularly in Europe. From the fourth generation onwards, stadiums began to change fundamentally.
“With the arenas of the new millennium, built primarily for major events, stadiums started to become high-technological identity icons on a global scale,” Allegri says.
Major international tournaments acted as accelerators, turning sports venues into global showcases – comparable, in his view, to the World Exhibitions of the 20th century – reflecting not just sporting ambition, but also technological capability, political vision, and cultural identity.
Looking beyond the building
What excites Allegri most about the future of sports architecture is not a specific material, technology, or form – but the role sports venues will play in society.
“We shouldn’t stop at the building itself, but take a much larger view,” he says. “Sport will be increasingly present in our lives, in our cities, everywhere.”
As leisure time, wellbeing, and physical activity take on greater importance in contemporary society, sports infrastructure is becoming a powerful driver of urban and social regeneration.
“For those who design sports venues, this is an extraordinary challenge,” Allegri explains. “We are designing the new places for the new society of the future.”
From major arenas to local sports centres, venues are increasingly expected to be multifunctional, inclusive, and socially active – places that live beyond matchday and serve their communities year-round.
A personal beginning
Despite his academic work and international experience, Allegri’s connection to stadiums is deeply personal.
His first stadium memory takes him back to Stadio Zini in Cremona, in the early 1980s. He was eight or nine years old, holding his father’s hand, standing on the parterre behind the team bench.
“I could see practically nothing,” he recalls, “but it was the best moment of my week.”
The smoke bombs, the noise, the goal celebrations – and on the pitch, a very young Gianluca Vialli, already extraordinary. That moment, he says, left a lasting mark.
It also leads to his simplest – and perhaps most powerful – definition of the game.
“Football is anything you can imagine,” Allegri says. “And anything you keep deep in your soul and in your heart. In essence: identity and memory.”
Davide Allegri is a lecturer on the Master PCGDIS programme, where he explores the evolution of sports infrastructure and its social, urban, and cultural impact. Learn more about the programme here.
