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The National Football League's Minnesota Vikings have a brand new home. Their first game in the state-of-the-art U.S. Bank Stadium was held on September 18, 2016, starting the season off with a win against the Green Bay Packers. As the team settles into their pristine digs and fans familiarize themselves with the massive space, understanding the scale of the $1 billion facility was made a little easier by a recently released time-lapse movie by EarthCam.
Centred on the Downtown East Minneapolis site, a combination of live streaming video and time-lapse construction cameras recorded over one million high-definition images of the project from January 2014 to September 2016. The result is a mesmerizing three-minute video showcasing 32 months of progress, from the deflation and demolition of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to the excited crowds pouring into the 65,000-seat venue on game day via the world's largest pivoting doors.
The stealthy complex was designed by HKS, the same architecture firm behind the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium and the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium. Inspired by Nordic vernacular architecture and informed by Minnesota's harsh winters, the angular roof is designed to shed snow into a heated gutter, avoiding the previous stadium's much-publicized issues with snow accumulation. In several cases, snow buildup caused the roof to deflate, most recently in 2010. In stark contrast to the previous facility's unadorned aesthetic, the transparent roof and facades of the U.S. Bank Stadium maximize natural light, reduce energy consumption, and provide patrons with a view of the Minneapolis skyline.
"From the demolition of the beloved Metrodome to the inaugural home-opener at the game-changing U.S. Bank Stadium, it has been an honour to document this historic transformation of downtown Minneapolis," said Brian Cury, CEO and Founder of EarthCam. "We worked hand in hand with the Vikings organization to share their vision, and through this rewarding process, produced a time-lapse movie that I hope generations of Vikings fans will be proud of."
Additional images and information can be found in the Database file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion or share your photos? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
