Love it or hate it, the World Cup of Football is the stuff of legends. Winning the trophy will immediately assign you a special place in the history of Football and everyone from the winning nation will never forget that night and that place where the miracle took place. For this World Cup that special place will be the most legendary Stadium there is, Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanà, and Stratasys has a very special way to remember it: 3D print it.
The industrial 3D printer manufacturer has replicated the temple of Brasilian football. The original Maracanà had been build for the 1950 World Cup, the one where the host country Brasil suffered a heartbreaking loss to Uruguay in the final game. In preparation for the 2014 World Cup, the stadium was not torn down but it was completely renovated by the architectural firm Fernandes Arquitectos Associados.
The new Maracanà can seat 78.838 (the original Maracanà could fit close to 120.000 but safety and comfort were not up to par for modern standards). New structures have been developed to meet the ideal conditions of visibility, safety and comfort, with an impressive floating roof constructed from high tension PTFE coated fiberglass membrane.
Working with the STL files provided by Fernandes Arquitectos Associados, Stratasys printed out the Maracanà replica using the Objet500 Connex Multimaterial 3D printer and its VeroWhitePlus resin. The entire model is composed of two parts: the roof and the base.
A few days from now, two teams out of the current four semi-finalists will face off in this marvel of modern architecture to see who will become legend. Fortunately for Brasil, Uruguay is out of the picture this time, however so is their top player, Neymar. Losing the cup against Germany, Holland or – even worse – eternal rivals Argentina, is just not contemplated.
(I was only six but I remember the 1982 victory at Madrids Bernabeu)
