Architect warns of roof collapse during Madonna show in Moscow

Moscow - During the concert of American pop diva Madonna in Moscow, the roof of the Luzhniki Stadium, where the music show is to take place, could collapse. Architect Nodar Kancheli told Echo of Moscow radio that he knows what he is talking about - he designed the Moscow entertainment water park Transvaal, which collapsed two years ago.
    The architect claims that certain sound frequencies could disrupt the structure of the stadium's roof. At the same time, he hopes that nothing like that will happen during the concert scheduled for Tuesday, September 12. Organizers expect about 52,000 people to attend Madonna's performance as part of her world tour, Confessions Tour, in the Russian capital.
    Kancheli previously recommended that a new retractable roof be built above the stands of the Luzhniki sports stadium. However, the Moscow city hall rejected the proposal as unprofitable. This summer, this sports complex celebrated its 50th anniversary.
    The people who designed the stadium's roof reject any doubts about its construction. "The roof is designed to support a load of 1,800 tons. No Madonna with any equipment can do anything to this roof," said Gennady Mikhailov, one of the architects of Luzhniki, to the Interfax agency. "Kancheli, who did not participate in the design, is wrong," he added.
    Neither the organizers of Madonna's concerts in Prague, where she is set to perform today and Thursday at the Sazka Arena, fear similar problems. "A whole series of static tests were conducted, and we had to submit a report on the load-bearing capacity of the roof," spokesperson for Sazka Zdeněk Zikmund said today to ČTK.
    Architect Kancheli has previously been accused of poor design of the modern entertainment water park Transvaal, whose roof collapsed in February 2004, killing 28 people. At the beginning of September, a Moscow court extended the validity of Kancheli's April amnesty, which was approved by parliament on the occasion of its hundredth anniversary.
    The 68-year-old architect also designed the Baumanskoye (Basmanskoye) market building nearly 30 years ago, part of which collapsed this February, killing 57 people. In this case, the court acquitted the architect; the cause of the disaster was improper use of the building and unprofessional construction interventions in its structure.
    Meanwhile, the first 15 trucks with equipment for Madonna's musical show have already arrived in Moscow. The music stage assembly has begun in Luzhniki, and decorations are being prepared. A total of 200 tons of stage equipment will need to be transported to Moscow, which will be handled by 63 trucks. Eight cargo planes will then bring the last necessary technology from Prague. Madonna herself is expected to arrive in Moscow on Sunday.