The 5 best places to be — architecturally speaking — at SoFi Stadium

If a stadium opens without crowds in the middle of a pandemic, does it make a sound?

Consider the curious case of SoFi Stadium. Inglewood’s $5-billion football stadium hosted its first game in September of 2020 — Rams vs. Cowboys; Rams won — without any fans in the stands due to the ravages of COVID-19. Times Sports columnist Bill Plaschke was at that first game and described the event as “strange and somber.�

With the advent of vaccines, SoFi Stadium began allowing fans into the stadium last spring. But Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, with an expected global viewership of more than 145 million, will in many regards mark the venue’s true debut.

And what a debut it will be. The 3.1-million-square-foot stadium has plenty of superlatives attached to it. It’s the largest stadium in the NFL. It’s the league’s first indoor-outdoor stadium. And the stands’ steep vertical pitch allows fans to get startlingly close to the action. Hell, if you bathe in money and can afford one of the field cabanas, you could very well have a defensive lineman land in your beer.

A view of SoFi Stadium from one of the field cabanas — the closest anyone can get to the field at any NFL stadium.

(Vantage Point Global Inc. / SoFi Stadium)

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The stadium’s design is unique. Tucked into the earth so as not to interfere with the flight path of aircraft at nearby LAX, its scale, on approach, feels more intimate than a venue that seats 70,000. Moreover, its curling roof — which protects not only the field but also an adjacent plaza and the 6,000-seat YouTube Theater — is fritted and allows light to penetrate even as it offers protection from the sun.

Gone are dreary passageways of the stadiums of yore lined with concessions. Here, open concourses allow spectators to pick up a hot dog while they keep an eye on the game. Everywhere, gardens embrace and surround the public areas. Adjacent to the site is the attractive Lake Park.

SoFi comes courtesy of a team of more than eight dozen architects and designers led by Lance Evans of HKS, a global architectural firm with offices in Los Angeles. The stadium’s landscape design was led by Mia Lehrer, of the L.A.-based Studio-MLA.

Tucked into the design are all kinds of great spots for catching the views or simply hanging out. Here are five of the best:

One of the key entry points to SoFi Stadium is a plaza with terraced gardens.

(Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

It’s hard to imagine anything named American Airlines nailing an arrival this well. But American Airlines Plaza, at the stadium’s southern point, makes landing at SoFi Stadium feel practically bucolic. Although there are acres of parking lot to navigate around the stadium, spectators approaching from the southwest can meander around Lake Park to this plaza, which functions as one of the key points of entry to SoFi.

Fingers of landscape studded with bulbous Australian bottle trees and otherworldly tree aloe break up approaching crowds and provide seating areas aplenty. From here, gently ascending ramps and steps — framed by terraced gardens lined with Mexican and California fan palms — proceed upward past a fountain and toward one of the stadium’s main concourses.

The entire plaza is shaded by the fritted roof. The site manages to retain a human dimension even amid the monumental scales of the stadium — and is a pretty fantastic hangout spot.

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A curving stairway leads to the upper concourse of SoFi Stadium, where you can catch views of the Hollywood Hills.

(Nic Lehoux / HKS)

This is a stadium that takes transitional spaces and turns them into a main event: Walkways, stairs, bridges and escalators continuously offer strategic slivers of view toward the field, the jumbotron, terraced gardens or the general Los Angeles environs. Particularly dramatic is the northern entrance, off of Touchdown Drive, where the ride-hailing drop-off point is located.

Here, a broad curving staircase sweeps up under the bend of the roof to the upper concourse. I recommend taking the escalator alongside the stairs — which has one of the best such rides in L.A. (after the escalator ride that Renzo Piano designed for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art). It not only offers views of the venerable Forum (designed by Charles Luckman and completed in 1967), but on a clear day you can also see all the way to the Hollywood Hills and downtown. Catch it on an especially good day and you might even see snow on the San Gabriel Mountains.

Once you’ve reached the upper concourse, you can keep admiring the views from the Pacifico Patio. Who needs a game when there’s architecture and beer?

The Toyota Patio Club at SoFi Stadium — one of two so-called “canyon� areas on the eastern and western side of the building that allow for a sense of openness as spectators descend into the structure.

(Bruce Damonte / HKS)

The proximity of LAX to SoFi created countless design challenges. Much of the stadium had to be carved into the earth — and the playing field, therefore, sits a whopping 100 feet below grade. That could have meant a dark and dreary descent to reach the lower levels. But Evans said that the design team was intent on avoiding that.

To maintain a sense of openness, they tucked “canyons� on the northern, eastern and western sides of the building. These consist of a vertical, open-air terraced gardens whose design was inspired by the California landscape, and which are navigated by a sequence of staircases and escalators that gently zigzag down. “We were inspired by being on the coastlines,� says Evans of the experience, “going down staircases, going down a cliffside to the water.�

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The northern canyon, which functions as a principal gateway to the stadium, is the most accessible of the three and is landscaped with vegetation more typical of desert climes. The eastern canyon is narrower and shadier and features plants from the state’s montane regions; the western one is wider and gets more sunlight and, therefore, contains plants that are more typical of low-lying chaparral areas. Thoughtfully designed, the canyons make entering the stadium feel like a literal walk through a park.

At the bottom of the east and west canyons — formally known as the East Patio Club and the Toyota Patio Club — are breezy seating areas that offer a terrific spot to sit and grab a drink. But you’ll need bucks for that: These are part of specially ticketed club areas that go at premium prices. The closest the working stiff will come to these two canyons is to take peek at them from some of the circulation areas overhead — or by signing up for a stadium tour. (More on that in the box below.)

A view of the bar on the southwestern edge of SoFi Stadium, with views of the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the distance.

(Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Thankfully, one of the best spots at SoFi is accessible to anybody with a ticket. The (nameless) boomerang-shaped bar on the southwestern edge of the stadium overlooks American Airlines Plaza and offers views of Lake Park and the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the distance. On a very clear day, you may even catch glimpses of the ocean and Santa Catalina.

If you land early, park yourself here for the stadium’s best people-watching: As the crowds roll through American Airlines Plaza below, you’ll be in a prime position to catch the fashion show, which on a Rams game day includes plenty of face paint, sheep horns and watermelon hats. If it’s late in the afternoon, stick around, because this is the place to enjoy a sunset with a beverage in hand.

A view of SoFi Stadium from the Lake Park Overlook.

(Nic Lehoux / HKS)

The Lake Park Overlook is not part of SoFi Stadium. It’s a viewing platform in adjacent Lake Park, a public-private space that is managed by Hollywood Park, the mega-development where the stadium is located. But the overlook, at the lake’s southwestern point, is the ideal place to get the wide view of the stadium’s curved form.

The afternoon views are the best — especially when the light is golden. That’s when the roof’s composite panels gleam in the sun and the building comes to resemble a perfect wave gently curling into water before it.

The best part: On most days this view is totally free.