Casa da Música

Casa da Música was designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA for Porto's year as European Capital of Culture in 2001, and opened four years late in 2005 - a single faceted block of white concrete set on an open travertine plaza, with no front and no back, cut by irregular windows. The main hall inside is a shoebox, the acoustically conservative form, but with corrugated gold-leafed plywood walls and, unusually, glazed at both ends, so the audience sees the city through the hall and passers-by see the concert. Around it are a smaller hall, rehearsal rooms, a rooftop terrace, a restaurant and a room lined entirely in blue and white azulejos in a deliberate reference to Portuguese tradition inside a resolutely contemporary building. It is home to three resident ensembles and runs a broad programme. Guided tours run daily in Portuguese and English.

History

The Ministry of Culture announced the building on 1 September 1998 for Porto's year as European Capital of Culture in 2001, Rem Koolhaas's Office for Metropolitan Architecture won the competition, and the site on the Boavista roundabout, once a tram depot, was chosen on 8 March 1999. Built over schedule at a cost of 100 million euros, it opened to the public on 14 April 2005 with Clã and Lou Reed and was inaugurated the next day; its main auditorium has 1300 seats (Wikipedia, Casa da Música).

Highlights

• The building - a faceted white concrete block by Koolhaas on an open plaza.
• The main hall - a shoebox with gold plywood walls and glass at both ends.
• The azulejo room - a traditional tiled interior inside a contemporary building.
• The programme - three resident ensembles and a wide range of music.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours for a tour; an evening for a concert. Tours run daily but the main hall is skipped when rehearsals are on.

Things to know

Tours cannot always enter the main hall, which depends on rehearsals - the timetable is published but changes. The plaza is bare and windswept. The building is divisive locally. Concert tickets for major performances sell out.

Nearby

Boavista and the Serralves museum are west; central Porto is east on the metro.

Key facts