Project Location: Ashgabat - Turkmenistan
Owner: Government of Turkmenistan
Architectural Design and Main
Contractor: Polimeks
Engineering Design: Arup Mühendislik ve
Müşavirlik Ltd. Şti
Manufacturing and Installation: Temsan
Yapı ve Makine Endüstri A.Ş.
Year of Completion: 2017
In addition to the functionality of the grand structures (stadiums, airports, high-rise buildings etc.) designed in our day and age, great efforts are also spent to make these structures iconic symbols to represent the region. One of these monumental structures is the olympic stadium constructed in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. The olympic stadium has a capacity of 45.000 spectators and a closed area of 100.000 squaremeters. Sixteen stairwell towers are located around the main support structure formed of a twostorey reinforced concrete bowl-shaped structure. Stairwell towers play a significant role both as an architectural member and main support structure of the horse figure. Reinforced concrete structure is formed of eight main blocks with movement joints between each block and the steel roof supported by the reinforced concrete stairwell towers covers an area of 30.000 squaremeters. Steel cantilever members have variable lengths due to the oval shape in roof plan, the shortest being 40 meters and the longest 60 meters. On one of the cantilever members with the length of 40 meters, a horse figure rests on the cantilever roof with a height of 48 meters. This horse figure has been foreseen to be the symbol of the olympic village and a monumental structure to be seen from anywhere in all Ashgabat in clear weather. The olympic torch rests on top of the head of the horse figure which plays an important role in opening ceremonies.
Architectural Design of the Horse Figure It was decided the Ahâl Teke pedigree Turkmen horse breed which was awarded many times in the most beautiful horse contests all around the world to be the symbol of the olympic village. Sculptors worked on a small scale horse sculpture based on the architectural concept, forming a sculpture to reflect the horse as a silhouette in the most beautiful way. The geometry of this sculpture was then digitalized and placed on the planned location on the stadium roof after scaling. In order to have a better understanding, a model of the area of the figure was constructed and inspected in detail in an architectural perspective.
The horse figure is a steel structure with an approximate height of 48 meters, resting on cantilever members with a length of 40 meters. Back and front widths in plan are 40m and 25m, respectively, and the figure rests on an area of 4.000 squaremeters. The horse figure formed after the meticulous completion of design, manufacturing and installation processes is recorded in Guinness World Records as the largest horse sculpture in the world and the certificates were handed over on 7 September 2017. The olympic stadium was opened with the magnificent opening ceremony of the 5th Asia Martial Arts Games held in Ashgabat Olympic Village on 17-27 September 2017.