Casa Da Musica

Large auditorium

The Structure

'Casa da Musica' is visually and spatially defined by its striking faceted exterior from which its conventional interior spaces have been extracted. The buildings 400mm thick faceted shell and the two 1m thick walls of the main auditorium are the buildings primary load carrying and stability system. The auditorium walls act as internal diaphragms tying the shell together in the longitudinal direction.

Aerial view of 'Rotunda da Boavista' and 'Casa da Musica'

The Context

As part of urban and cultural interventions for the city of Porto, a new concert hall was to be positioned in the historical centre of Porto, the 'Rotunda da Boavista'. Since this part of Porto was still a city "intact", OMA chose not to articulate the new concert hall as a segment of a small scale circular wall around the 'Rotunda da Boavista' but to create a solitary building standing on the new, more intimate square connected to the historical park of the 'Rotunda da Boavista' and enclosed by three urban blocks.

With this concept, issues of symbolism, visibility and access were resolved in one gesture. Through continuity and contrast, the park on the 'Rotunda da Boavista' is no longer a mere hinge between the old and the new Porto, but it becomes a positive encounter of two different models of the city.

Credits

• Text: Courtesy, the architect
• Photos (1, 2 and 5) by Nicolas Firket (AMO), Courtesy of Office for Metropolitan Architecture
• Photos (3, 4, 6 and 7) by Charlie Koolhaas, Courtesy of Office for Metropolitan Architecture
• Compiled and edited by Varun M. Ajani

View full page Pages: Previous Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4