A Tour of Casa da Musica 11 Apr 2005
8 comments Latest by GOETE
A tour of Casa da Musica (NY Times), Rem Koolhaas’s new concert hall in Oporto, Portugal. Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff calls it “a building whose intellectual ardor is matched by its sensual beauty.”
The accompanying review points out the design actually originated in a commission for a house. The client dropped the project just as Koolhaas was entering a design competition for the concert hall. Rather than abandon the design, he blew it up in scale and adapted it.
8 comments so far (Jump to latest)
Jo�o Antunes 11 Apr 05
I live a couple of miles of it and have a ticket for the opening on Thursday night.
It’s a great achievemente, originally planned to be opened in 2001 to celebrate Oporto being the European capital of Culture for that year.
The construction is delayed for about 5 years and it has involved the fall and rise of many local and national politics.
It’s finally nice to see it opening and people abroad talking about it! :)
ajr 11 Apr 05
Impressive! Now, not all of the angles are great but most of the interior views are pretty cool. The Qbert inspired wall decor in shot #9 is a bit much.
mm 11 Apr 05
For what it is worth, Rem Koolhaas has described it differently… not that “the client dropped the project,” but rather that he dropped the client and project.
fred 11 Apr 05
I too will be there for the opening night after being around the construction site this friday. Its an amazing building. My fascination for Koolhaas and OMA/AMOs work goes a long time and has taken a boost since the publication of their mook on taschen, Content. I recommend reading his Junkspace article and seeing some of his works like this one and the Seattle Public Library.
Thumbs up for this post.
JF 12 Apr 05
It looks like Seattle Public LibraryM
That’s the first thing I thought too. Shape looks the same. I guess that’s the issue with “shapeless” modern buildings — they look the same. But then again, many highrises and churches look the same and that isn’t a bad thing. Hmmm…
John Barrett 12 Apr 05
The multimedia presentation with audio of Mr. Ouroussoff’s review of the casa da musica is disappointing in one major way. It perpetuates the myth of Rem Koolhaas as a singular genius who pens OMA’s projects personally. He has talked about himself as editor/critic/designer, in that order, and likewise has said that he has a skill for collaboration. Referring to OMA’s work as “Rem Koolhaas’s” does a disservice to the unique and highly successful collaborative organizational structure that Rem work so hard to create at OMA.
The myth of celebrity-architect as sole designer may be popular in the architectural press and it may sell publications but it isn’t true and certainly not in the case of OMA. Mr. Ouroussoff certainly knows better.