Now that the World Cup is over and most of the hype in Brazil is gone one very important question remains: What to do with all the empty soccer stadiums?

Of the twelve stadiums that Brazilian cities built or renovated for the 2014 World Cup, four have futures that look dismal. Situated in a rain forest in one case, in a city without a top-tier soccer team in another, these stadiums will likely struggle to attract the crowds needed to support their massive upkeep costs. That can’t help but make one wonder: Was the $2 billion that went into building them a colossal waste?

Maybe, but perhaps Brazil can come up with a plan to put the hulking structures to good use. “Casa Futebol,” an architectural proposal from the visionaries at 1 Week 1 Project, is probably not that plan, but its heart is in the right place. They’d like to convert the stadiums into much-needed housing complexes, leaving the fields untouched so people can still enjoy the occasional soccer game.

Axel de Stampa et Sylvain Macaux, architects based both in France and Chile, are responsible for the whimsical collaboration 1 Week 1 Project. The project, called Casa Futebol, would put an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 1,130-square-feet housing units into each new stadium, resulting in roughly 20,000 homes. Here’s the duo laying out their grand scheme:

…within the host country, the housing shortage is estimated to be at 5.2 million homes according to the institute of applied economic research. by analyzing the current structures of the athletic venues, the architects envision the possibility for alternative modes of housing that counteract the deficit to be placed within their spaces. the existing architecture requires mass amounts of light for its activities along with a common repetition of construction components that evenly divide spaces. these typological characteristics allow the dispersement of modules throughout the perimeter, where residents can have sunlit views to the interior and exterior. meanwhile, soccer games will continue to be played and watched by people from the city, where a portion of the profits can be used to finance the maintenance of the residences. 

Macaux believes that the World Cup stadiums are so massive that “it is almost absurd.” And this high-concept design could easily accommodate many of the 250,000 people displaced by the World Cup. Despite the fact that this is being called an insane idea that would never become reality, I believe that Casa Futbol is a particularly exciting idea given Brazil’s serious issues with poverty and human displacement (two issues exacerbated by the 2014 World Cup). Hopefully, Macaux and de Stampa can turn this idea into a reality.

Check out the illustrations below: