This year’s Super Bowl was held last night at the Allegiant Stadium of the Las Vegas Raiders, who moved from Oakland, California, once the 62,000-seat stadium was completed in 2020 to Las Vegas, Nevada. The Kansas City Chiefs won in overtime, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.

The project – designed by the Kansas City-based firm Manica Architecture – was initially intended to be built in Los Angeles because Raiders owner Mark Davis wanted the team to move there, but then other teams secured the space. Thus, it had to be readjusted to Las Vegas’ extreme climatic conditions, also becoming a stadium tailored for the Raiders.

The building aims to evoke the elegance and power of sports cars, and according to Davis’s desires, it appears fast, angry, and intimidating. “Black sports cars inspired the design,” said Manica, “We looked at the way Maserati lines are to give the lines of the building aerodynamic movements – a form gives it motion”. Furthermore, contrary to what one might think, the black glass that widely covers the building protects it from the intense desert light.

In addition to the shape, dynamism is provided by sloping bands of LED lights that create S-shaped lines on the facade. The idea is to capture the gray and black that characterize the Raiders. The stadium features also a large torch-shaped sculpture inside, which according to Manica is the world’s largest 3D-printed object. For Manica, Las Vegas is a very dynamic reality where architecture plays a fundamental role, also thanks to its extremely flexible bureaucracy in terms of building approvals.