Cidade das Artes
Between the sea and the mountains, the project is a landmark at the centre of the plain of Barra da Tijuca.
- Type
- Commission
- Status
- Built
- Completed
- 2013
- Client
- City of Rio de Janeiro, Secretaria Municipal das Culturas
- Scale
- 46,000 m² (90,000 m² gross)
- Program
- Opera house (1,800 seats) convertible to a 1,300-seat philharmonic hall, chamber music hall (600 seats), rehearsal rooms, music school, restaurant, three cinemas, administration and shops
- Architect
- Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, AND Studio, collaboration
About
A public terrace raised 10 metres above the ground and overhanging a tropical garden lets visitors take in the wider landscape before reaching the halls.
The building is made of two structural elements: two horizontal slabs, the terrace at +10 metres and the roof, and between them curved concrete walls and inclined columns. Each slab is 220 metres long and 1.7 metres thick.
The concert hall draws on the Elizabethan theatre, with the audience gathered around the musicians. The complex also holds a chamber music hall, cinemas and exhibition galleries.