Courtesy Manica Architecture

Los Angeles stadium design approved as possible future home to Chargers and Raiders.

Officials recently approved the construction of a $1.7-billion, 65,000-seat stadium in Carson City, Calif., a Los Angeles County city that could be the future home of the Chargers and the Raiders, two National Football League teams now based in San Deigo and Oakland, Calif., respectively.

Both teams publicly announced their intent to relocate to the open-air, horseshoe-shaped Los Angeles stadium, if they cannot reach terms with their respective home cities. One design feature allows the stadium to switch between the two different team aesthetics. For example, one element of the still-morphing design is a 120-ft tower that can change to represent either team: When the Chargers play, electrical currents, simulating lightning bolts, will run behind the glass that encases the tower; when the Raiders play, the tower will appear to be a fire-holding cauldron. The teams worked together on the stadium's design.

“It’s a very exciting project,” says David Manica, president at Manica Architects, Kansas City, Miss. Manica's design allows the stadium to expand to 75,000 seats to host a Super Bowl game. 

City approval doesn’t guarantee that the teams will move to Los Angeles or that the stadium will be built, and both Oakland and San Diego city officials have announced their intent to retain their respective team.