Once upon a time there were stadiums

A unit of length in ancient Greece, the stadium (or stadion) became rapidly assimilated with an enormous empty space, partially or entirely equipped along its perimeter with bleachers or stands. It can cover a plurality of architectural forms, from the communal stadium to large sports arenas, all of which are derived from its successive uses.
 

“It is through a reaction against the artificial unhealthy life of our industrial conurbations that the sports movement was born […] it is better to prevent than cure, building stadiums rather than hospitals” (Eugène Beaudouin, 1934). The boom in mass sports practices in the 20th century transformed the stadium into a major public facility, to the point of making it a monument. Dedicated to hosting national or international competitions, the stadium has also become an edifice of spectacles. Its important in everyone’s imagination invites people to understand its history as well as its heritage dimension.
 

The exhibition is organized in three sequences, each summed up by an evocative idea of the challenges ofthe sports world, inviting the visitor to consider