A "deployable" roof

A new version of AEG's proposed NFL football stadium and event center in downtown Los Angeles was unveiled Tuesday afternoon. The latest design by Ronald Turner of the firm Gensler represents a marked attempt to give the complex more transparency and openness than was contained in a largely conceptual version released late last year.

Instead of an expensive retractable roof, the 72,000-seat stadium will be topped by what AEG calls a "deployable" roof, a collection of light fabric panels that can be stored outside the stadium. That change means it will take longer to close the roof — perhaps hours instead of minutes. But it has the architectural advantage of requiring smaller trusses and therefore a less massive structure above fans' heads. AEG and the firm it hired to oversee the stadium project, Icon Venue Group, estimate the roof will be closed at most about 15 times per year, mostly for large-scale convention activities and rare events like a basketball Final Four. It would remain open for nearly every NFL game.