Michel Macary, Aymeric Zublena, Michel Regembal and Claude Costantini designed the stadium. Groundbreaking was on May 2, 1995, and it opened on January 28, 1998, at a cost of 364 million euros. The article says the architecture was inspired by Pan American Airways' Worldport at JFK Airport. As much as 180,000 cubic meters of concrete was poured.
The elliptical roof covers six hectares, weighs 13,000 tons, and cost over 45 million euros. It protects about 80,000 spectators without covering the field. Retractable seating lets the stadium switch between football and athletics. The article says the changeover takes 40 people and 80 hours.
Capacity is 81,338 for football and rugby and 77,083 for athletics. On July 12, 1998, France beat Brazil 3–0 in the World Cup final held here. Parking is very limited, so public transport is the main way to reach it.
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