DOHA, Qatar (AP) 鈥� Of the seven stadiums Qatar built for the World Cup, one will disappear after the tournament.
That鈥檚 what the games鈥� organizers have said about Stadium 974 in Doha 鈥� a port-side structure with more than 40,000 seats partially built from recycled shipping containers and steel.
Qatar says the stadium will be fully dismantled after the World Cup and could be shipped to countries that need the infrastructure. Outside experts have praised the design, but say more needs to be known about what happens to the stadium after the event.
鈥淒esigning for disassembly is one of the main principles of sustainable building,鈥� said Karim Elgendy, an associate fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank who previously worked as a climate consultant for the World Cup.
鈥淚t allows for the natural restoration of a building site or its reuse for another function,鈥� he said, adding that a number of factors need to considered 鈥渂efore we call a building sustainable.鈥�
Buildings are responsible for nearly 40% of the world鈥檚 energy-related carbon emissions. Of that, about 10% comes from 鈥渆mbodied鈥� carbon or the greenhouse gas emissions related to the construction, maintenance and demolition of buildings.
Qatar has faced international criticism for its treatment of low-paid migrant workers who built over $200 billion worth of stadiums, metro lines and other infrastructure for the World Cup. Qatar says the criticism ignores labor reforms enacted in recent years.
Stadium 974, named after Qatar鈥檚 international dialing code and the number of containers used to build the stadium, is the only venue that Qatar constructed for the World Cup that isn鈥檛 air-conditioned. During a match Friday in which Switzerland defeated Serbia, the air was noticeably more humid and hot than in other venues.
The stadium is hosting only evening matches, when temperatures are cooler.
Fenwick Iribarren Architects, which designed Stadium 974 and two other World Cup stadiums, says the idea was to avoid building a 鈥渨hite elephant,鈥� a stadium that is left unused or underused after the tournament ends, as happened following previous World Cups in South Africa, Brazil and Russia.
Qatar says it has developed plans for the other six stadiums after the games are over. Many will have a number of seats removed.
The multi-colored shipping containers are used as building blocks for Stadium 974 and also to house facilities such as restrooms in the interior of the structure. Like giant Lego blocks, the bright red, yellow and blue corrugated steel boxes appear suspended between layers of steel. The design gives the stadium an industrial feel.
Qatar has not detailed where the dismounted stadium will go after the tournament or even when it will be taken down. Organizers have said the stadium could be repurposed to build a venue of the same size elsewhere or multiple smaller stadiums.
Where its components go matters because of the emissions implicated by shipping them thousands of kilometers away.
Carbon Market Watch, an environmental watchdog group that investigated Qatar鈥檚 World Cup sustainability plans, said whether Stadium 974 has a lower carbon footprint than a permanent one comes down to 鈥渉ow many times, and how far, the stadium is transported and reassembled.鈥�
FIFA and Qatar acknowledge that in a report estimating the stadium鈥檚 emissions. If the stadium is reused only once, they estimate its emissions would be lower than a permanent one as long as it is shipped fewer than 7,000 kilometers (about 4,350 miles) away.
If it鈥檚 repurposed more than once, it could be shipped farther and still be less polluting than a permanent venue, they said, because of how energy-intensive building multiple new stadiums is.
Qatar鈥檚 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the organizing committee for the World Cup, did not respond to a request for more information about plans after the tournament.
The report also didn鈥檛 factor in operational emissions 鈥� or those produced from running a building 鈥� once the stadium is repurposed because standards vary in different countries, FIFA and Qatar said.
鈥淭he energy required for dismantling and shipping the building components will obviously need to be estimated,鈥� Elgendy said, 鈥渂ut it is unlikely to outweigh the carbon embodied in the building materials.鈥�
For now, the stadium鈥檚 design isn鈥檛 lost on spectators. On any game night, fans entering and leaving the stadium take selfies against its modern, industrial facade. The temporary stadium is hosting seven games in total 鈥� with the final one on Monday between Brazil and South Korea.
Jhonarel Mi帽oza, a 42-year-old Qatari resident originally from the Philippines, said she and her sister wanted to see a game in each of the seven stadiums.
Mi帽oza, an administrative officer who has lived in Qatar for five years, said she had heard about Stadium 974鈥瞫 unconventional design before the game she attended on Friday.
鈥淚 was really eager to know how they built it,鈥� Mi帽oza said. 鈥淲hen I came inside here, I was just checking how they did that.鈥�
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Suman Naishadham, The Associated Press
