The Poliedro de Caracas ("Caracas

Polyhedron In geometry, a polyhedron (plural polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices. A convex polyhedron is the convex hull of finitely many points, not all o ...

Arena") is an indoor sports arena, located on the grounds adjacent to Hipodromo La Rinconada, in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It was designed by architect Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc., in Raleigh, NC, in 1971. However, the

geodesic dome A geodesic dome is a hemispherical thin-shell structure (lattice-shell) based on a geodesic polyhedron. The triangular elements of the dome are structurally rigid and distribute the structural stress throughout the structure, making geodesic do ...

was not concluded, until 1974, when US firm Charter Industries, along with Synergetics, Inc. designed and manufactured the geodesic dome in Raleigh, NC. It is housed beneath a

, with a capacity of 20,000 people for

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide vari ...

and 13,500 people for sporting events. The arena is used for concerts, sporting events such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

shows, and for

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

es, and trade expositions, like auto shows, and expomuebles (furniture). Lately, it has also been used for government-sponsored political events. American Pop-star

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

was to perform a concert on 12 November 1993 but was cancelled due to his health problems. Rent rates for Poliedro de Caracas on concerts and some sporting events ranges from $400-$1000 per day

History

Poliedro de Caracas was finished in 1974, and officially inaugurated with the fight between

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champi ...

and

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978. He is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, ...

, on March 26, 1974. It also served as the stage for many local acts, like Melissa, Yordano and Ilan Chester, among others, in addition to international acts that visited Venezuela. One of the main events that took place each year in El Poliedro (up to 2009, 2013 and since 2022), is the Miss Venezuela

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

. The Poliedro was the main venue of the

2013 FIBA AmeriCup The 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Americas, for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, 2014 FIBA World Cup, in Spain. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Caracas ...

, which determined the final four participants of the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Top concerts

The following is an incomplete list of the most famous artists who have given concerts in the Poliedro de Caracas:

References

External links

{{Authority control 1974 establishments in Venezuela Sports venues in Caracas Sports venues completed in 1974 Geodesic domes Indoor arenas in Venezuela Basketball venues in Venezuela Volleyball venues in Venezuela Boxing venues in Venezuela Convention centers in Venezuela

History

Top concerts

See also

References

External links