Evaluating the intangible significance of sport stadiums

Stefania Landi (ICOMOS Italia)


Sports stadiums are places of social aggregation, designed to accommodate large gatherings of people for recurring events such as sports matches and competitions, or exceptional events such as concerts, cultural events or celebrations of various typologies. In some cases, stadiums have also been the scene of important historical events, which have marked the life of the communities and sites where they are located. For these reasons, sports stadiums embody the expectations and dreams of entire generations, and also their historical memories, sometimes dramatic. According to the Italian Code of the Cultural and Landscape Heritage (Legislative Decree n. 42/2004), in the process of assessing the cultural interest of an asset, these ‘intangible’ aspects constitute the so-called ‘relational interest’ (Art.10).

The mapping and comparative analysis initiated in 2020 by the National Scientific Committee on 20th-Century Heritage of ICOMOS Italy (of which the first results were presented at the webinar ‘Soccer stadiums in Italy: a heritage at risk?’, organized on 6 February 2021), made it possible to identify the main historical phases of construction (which also correspond to different formal, symbolic and functional features), to comprehend the always close relationship with the urban context and distinctive landscape (both for large and small stadiums), to identify the often incongruous transformations they undergo in order to meet evolving standards and, finally, to identify the tangible and intangible values that they may possess.

The following presentation focuses on the intangible values, which often ‘materialize’ in different and sometimes unexpected ways: through changes of denomination, the creation of museums dedicated to the history of the stadium and its team, films celebrating sport activities, the efforts of fans mobilizing themselves to defend the stadiums from being demolished, the mythologization of some of the best players and athletes and, finally, through their being, in one way or the other, part of the everyday life of a large number of people of all ages, cultures in all parts of the world.