Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld

The Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld in Jena is a place caught between its past as an athletics track and its present as a modern football arena. The ground is a major rebuild, completed in time for the summer of 2024. The track is gone, replaced by a pitch that sits closer to the stands. The change has altered the relationship between the fans and the game. Where there were once open-air wooden benches, there are now solid structures with banners hanging from the railings.

It is not a cathedral of football, but a working venue that has adapted to the requirements of the German football league. The hills behind it provide a natural barrier, but the concrete structures are the primary focus. The renovation removed the barriers that once separated the athletes from the footballers, leaving only the grass and the concrete.

There is a sense of transition in the way the site is presented. The ground does not rely on its history for its identity; it stands on its own as a facility built for a specific purpose. The concrete is the main material, and the track is the main memory.