Commissioned by Arthur Blank, striking new Mercedes-Benz Stadium book weighs 20 pounds

Boasting an awe-inspiring, blossoming roof, mesmerizing halo light board, arguably the country’s best professional soccer team, and remarkably cheap concessions (hello, $1.50 hot dogs), it’s no wonder Atlanta’s $1.6 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium has quickly become a local icon.

But some MBS zealots, such as Falcons and Atlanta United FC owner Arthur Blank, believe the stadium is far more than that.

To put the structure’s majesty in writing, so to speak, Blank has commissioned a coffee table book that, aesthetically, might give his new coliseum—called “An American Cathedral” by Atlanta magazine and “one of the most beautifully designed stadiums on the planet” by Architectural Digest—a run for its money.

Dubbed “Art Architecture Icon” and weighing in at nearly 20 pounds—roughly the equivalent of a 1-year-old American boy—the 472-page tribute to the architectural marvel that is Mercedes-Benz Stadium isn’t even for sale.

Rather, the Rigsby Hull-designed masterwork—“housed in a personalized, sculpted plexiglass slipcase” that mirrors the stadium’s oculus roof—is specially designed for a select few.

(Who exactly gets one is unclear, although Curbed Atlanta asked Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’s office if she was one of the lucky few and will update this story if we receive a response.)

The colossal book features printing and binding techniques that Rigsby Hull claims “feel both classic and contemporary,” such as the gilded edging that shows the Atlanta skyline when you thumb the pages.

Inside, readers will find myriad interactive content, including some augmented reality effects, that lends perspective from the minds of the stadium’s creators.

Plus: “A side-sewn sketchbook reveals 60 pages of evolving artistic and architectural ideas leading to the stadium’s finished design.”

This massive production, including videos that pair with the pages, was compiled with the help of the Savannah College of Art and Design, architectural photographer Hsu-Jen Huang, aerial photographer Andrea Fremiotti, David Lewis Productions, and Print is Art.

• Art Architecture Icon [Rigsby Hull]