Wooden canopies, 60,000 capacity and special cooling roof: $1.4bn Tokyo Olympics stadium officially completed - in pictures

The main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games was officially completed on Saturday, constructors said, and the venue's nature-inspired design will help fight excessive heat. Japan's summer heat is a major concern for Tokyo 2020 officials, with doctors warning the Games could see deadly medical emergencies. The five-story stadium, designed by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and costing in the region of $1.4 billion (Dh5.14bn), will seat 60,000 fans and nods to traditional techniques through the prominent use of wood. Around 2,000 cubic metres of cedar wood were brought in from all of Japan's 47 prefectures, with an emphasis on wood from the northern Tohoku region hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The use of layered wooden canopies is also a reference to the 1,300-year-old five-story pagoda at Horyuji temple in western Nara prefecture, the oldest wooden building in the world. "Today, we were able to welcome the completion of the new national stadium," Japan Sport Council (JSC) in charge of the project said in a press release. "The new history will begin." The venue features the "Grand Eaves of the Wind," a top roof layer designed to let in wind and cool down the temperature inside the stadium. A total of 185 large fans have also been set up and cooling mist emitters are installed at eight locations. Athletes, volunteers and spectators face the sweltering Tokyo summer where the mercury can easily reach 40 degrees Celsius. The main stadium - used for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as athletics and some football matches - has been built in the centre of Tokyo on the site of the 1964 stadium.

Wooden canopies, 60,000 capacity and special cooling roof: $1.4bn Tokyo Olympics stadium officially completed - in pictures

Designed by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the arena nods to traditional techniques