Casa da Música (portuguese for House of Music) is a major concert hall space in Porto designed by the Dutch arquitect Rem Koolhaas. It was built as part of Porto's project for European Culture Capital in 2001 but was only finished in the first half of 2005 and immediately became a icon in the city. A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ... Seattle Central Library, designed by Koolhaas Rem Koolhaas (born November 17, 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch architect, former journalist and screenwriter who studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. ... The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. ...

Construction

Casa da Música was built just across one the the main traffic centers of the city, Rotunda da Boavista. The place where the building now sits used to be a holding place for the electric cars that ran in Porto. Although construction ran over schedule 4 years and cost roughly 100M€ the building process brought new engineering challenges in order to build the odd shape that it has.

Reviews

The building's design has been highly acclaimed worlwide. Nicolai Ouroussoff, architecture critic from the New York Times, classified it as the "most atractive project the architect Rem Koolhaas has ever built" and saying it's "a building whose intellectual ardor is matched by its sensual beauty". He also compares it to the "exuberant design" in Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. "Only looking into the original aspect of the building, this is one of the most important concert halls built in the last 100 years", comparing it to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in Los Angeles, and the Berlin Philharmonic auditorium. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Seattle Central Library, designed by Koolhaas Rem Koolhaas (born November 17, 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch architect, former journalist and screenwriter who studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. ... The Gehry tower in Hannover Frank Owen Gehry (born Ephraim Goldberg on February 28, 1929) is an architect known for his interesting use of metal sheathing for his buildings. ... The Guggenheim Museum refers to any of several museums worldwide created and run by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. ... Geography > Europe > Spain > Basque Country > Biscay Cityscape of Bilbao, with the Guggenheim Museum on the bottom right Bilbao (Basque: Bilbo) is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Pais Vasco and the capital of the province of Vizcaya (Basque: Bizkaia). ... Disney Hall in daytime Another view The Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the worlds leading orchestras. ...

Opening day

Casa da Musica on opening day

Altough the opening day concert took place on the 14th with Clã and Lou Reed the space was inaugurated on April 15, 2005 by the Portuguese president. The Prime-minister and many other notable politicians and Porto society were present at that moment for the concert by the Orquestra Nacional do Porto. Casa da Música, in Porto, Portugal Taken by Joao Castro on April 14th, 2005 on the night of the first concert File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Casa da Música, in Porto, Portugal Taken by Joao Castro on April 14th, 2005 on the night of the first concert File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Lewis Allen Reed, known as Lou Reed (born March 2, 1943), is a rocknroll singer-songwriter with a lasting musical influence on punk and alternative rock. ... A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ...

Capacity

The building has an auditorium with 1238 capacity and a smaller room with 300 capacity. The acoustics of the auditorium have been measured as one of the best in the world. An auditorium is the area within a theatre, concert hall or other performance space where the audience is located in order to hear and watch the performance. ...

The building also has a restaurant that can serve up to 250 people, a garage with 660 car capacity,

Website

Casa da Música (http://www.casadamusica.com/)