OMA- CASA-DA-MUSICA

CASA DA MUSICA, PORTUGAL, PORTO, 2005

Concert hall for the city of Porto


Panoramic Walkthrough 1 \| Panoramic Walkthrough 2 The past thirty years have seen frantic attempts by architects to escape the domination of the "shoe-box" concert hall. Rather than struggle with the inescapable acoustic superiority of this traditional shape, the Casa da Musica attempts to reinvigorate the traditional concert hall in another way: by redefining the relationship between the hallowed interior and the general public outside. The Casa da Musica, the new home of the National Orchestra of Porto, stands on a new public square in the historic Rotunda da Boavista. It has a distinctive faceted form, made of white concrete, which remains solid and believable in an age of too many icons. Inside, the elevated 1,300-seat (shoe box-shaped) Grand Auditorium has corrugated glass facades at either end that open the hall to the city and offer Porto itself as a dramatic backdrop for performances. Casa da Musica reveals its contents without being didactic; at the same time, it casts the city in a new light. more..
Locating the Casa da Musica was key in the development of OMA's thinking; we chose not to build the new concert hall in the ring of old buildings defining the Rotunda but to create a solitary building standing on a travertine-paved plateau in front of the Rotunda's park, neighbouring a working class area. With this concept, issues of symbolism, visibility, and access were resolved in one gesture. As well as the Grand Auditorium, conceived as a simple mass hollowed out end-to-end from the solid form of the building, the Casa da Musica also contains a smaller, more flexible performance space with no fixed seating, ten rehearsal rooms, recording studios, an educational area, a restaurant, terrace, bars, a VIP room, administration areas, and an underground car park for 600 vehicles. Innovative use of materials and colour throughout was another imperative: as well as the unique curtain-like glass walls at either end of the Grand Auditorium, the walls are clad in plywood with enlarged wood patterns embossed in gold, giving a dramatic jolt in perspective; the VIP area has hand-painted tiles picturing a traditional pastoral scene, while the roof terrace is patterned with geometric black and white tiles; floors in public areas are sometimes paved in aluminium. There is deliberately no large central foyer; instead, a continuous public route connects the spaces around the Grand Auditorium by means of stairs, platforms and escalators. The building becomes an architectural adventure.


FACT SHEET Status: Competition: 1999 Completed: 2005 Client: Porto 2001 / Casa da Música Site: Rotunda da Boavista Program: 22,000 m2 including grand auditorium with 1,200 seats, small auditorium with space for 350 seats, rehearsal rooms with recording facilities, music shop, computer and educational facilities, VIP room, restaurant, roof terrace and parking (600 cars) CREDITS Partners in charge: Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon Team: Adrianne Fisher, Michelle Howard, Isabel Silva, Nuno Rosado, Robert Choeff, Barbara Wolff, Stephan Griek, Govert Gerritsen, Saskia Simon, Thomas Duda, Christian von der Muelde, Rita Amado, Philip Koenen, Peter Müller, Krystian Keck, Eduarda Lima, Christoff Scholl, Alex de Jong, Catarina Canas, Shadi Rahbaran, Chris van Duijn, Anna Little, Alois Baptista, André Cardoso, Paulo Costa, Ana Jacinto, Fabienne Louyot, Christina Beaumont, João Prates Ruivo Competition Team: Rem Koolhaas, Fernando Romero Havaux, Isabel Silva, Barbara Wolff, Uwe Herlyn COLLABORATORS Local Architect: ANC Architects, Jorge Carvalho Structure: Arup / AFA Lda Cecil Balmond, Rory McGowan, Asim Gaba, Toby Maclean, Andrew Minson, Rui Furtado, Rui Oliveira, Pedro Moas Services: Arup / AFA Lda/RGA Tim Thornton, Stefan Waldhauser, Dane Green, Rodrigues Gomes, Joaquim Viseu, Luís Graça, Paulo Silva, Marco Carvalho, Pedro Albuqüerque Fire engineering: Arup Fire George Faller Code Consultancy: OHM /Gerisco Acoustics: TNO Eindhoven / DHV Renz van Luxembourg, Theo Raijmakers Interiors, Curtains: Inside Outside Petra Blaisse, Peter Niessen, Marieke van den Heuvel, Mathias Lehner Scenography: dUCKS scéno Michel Cova, Stephan Abromeit, Aldo de Sousa Facade: Robert Jan van Santen, Rob Nijsse (ABT), Arup Facades Auditorium chairs: Maarten van Severen, Loose Furniture Foyers: Daciano da Costa, António Sena da Silva, Leonor Álveres de Oliveira AWARDS Royal Institute of British Architects European Award, 2007 PRESS The Architects' Journal, 7 April 2005 Building Design, 8 April 2005 New York Times, 10 April 2005 The Observer, 10 April 2005 Le Monde, 22 April 2005 Financial Times, 27 April 2005 The Times, 4 June 2005 Villas & Golfe #7, 01/2003 Contemporary Architecture #48, 03/2003 Archined, 03/04/2003 Agenda do Porto #17, 06/2003 Uhmepbep #2/73, 2003 A+U #398, 11/2003 Casabella #721, 04/2004 Kenchiku Bunka #671, 06/2004 Newsweek, 25/04/2005 Financial Times, 27/04/2005 Bauwelt #21, 27/05/2005 AIT #5, 05/2005 GA Document #84, 05/2005 de Architect #6, 06/2005 Detail #6, 06/2005 The Times, 04/06/2005 A+ #194, 06/2005 Techniques & Architecture #478, 06/2005 Baumeister #B6, 05/2005 Domus #881, 05/2005 Bellevue #7, 07/2005 Yapi #284, 07/2005 Archinews, 29/06/2005 Archistorm #14, 07/2005 Art Press #314, 07/2005 A+U #419, 08/2005 Archistorm #14, 08/2005 Monument #68, 08/2005 A+U #419, 08/2005 A&W Architektur & Wohnen #4, 09/2005 Arcspace, 24/10/2005 Archiworld, 2005 Architectural Digest, 2005 AMC Le Moniteur Architecture 2006 [Bois] Architectural Digest #11, 10/2006 Opus C, 09/2006 Time and Architecture, 07/2006 QUOTES "A building whose intellectual ardor is matched by its sensual beauty." Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times. Full article. VISITS Avenida da Boavista, 604-610 4149-071 Porto, Portugal www.casadamusica.pt Virtual tour: VRMAG