National Stadium in Warsaw

Stadion Narodowy on the right bank of the Vistula in Warsaw's Praga-Polnoc district was built for Euro 2012, which Poland co-hosted with Ukraine. It replaced the crumbling Stadion Dziesieciolecia, which in the 1980s had become the legendary Jarmark Europa flea market. Designed by gmp Architekten of Hamburg with JSK Architekci and engineers schlaich bergermann partner, it wears an outer skin of red-and-white aluminium strips that echo the Polish flag, and a retractable spoke-wheel roof that closes in 25 minutes. With 58.580 seats it is Poland's biggest football stadium and home of the national team. Beyond matches it hosts concerts, speedway and American-football events, and in winter the pitch is regularly turned into a winter market with an ice rink. A pedestrian bridge across the Vistula links the stadium directly to the city centre.