Cidade Das Artes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by Christian de Portzamparc

 Article source: Christian de Portzamparc

The Cidade das Artes is situated between sea and mountain, in the center of fourteen kilometers of plain which nsaw recently developing the new major district of Rio de Janeiro: Barra da Tijuca. The landscape is monotonous, deprived of strong urban marks and public spaces. The site is structured by two highways that cross the district. In the centre of thiscross, designed by Lucio Costa, the Cidade das Artes will be in the very heart of the new city.

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

• Architects: Christian de Portzamparc
• Project: Cidade Das Artes
• Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Photography: Nelson Kon, Christian de Portzamparc
• PROGRAM: Cultural equipment: Philharmonic Hall (1,800 seats ), transformable into an Opera Hall (1,300 seats ) Chamber Music Hall (500 seats ), electroacoustic room (180 seats ), headquarters of the Brazilian Symphonic, Orchestra, music school, 10 rehearsal rooms, media library, 3 movies theaters , resta urant, shops, administration offices, technical spaces and parking lots.
• CLIENT: City Hall of Rio de Janeiro, Secretaria Municipal das Culturas
• ACOUSTICS: Xu Acoustique – Xu Ya Ying – (France), Acùstica sônica (Brazil)
• SCENOGRAPHY: Changement à Vue – Jacques Dubreuil (France), Ze Augusto Nepomucen (Brazil)
• LANDSCAPE DESIGNER: CAP, Fernando Chancel
• Surface: 46,000 sq.m.
• Gross Tota l Area: 90,000 sq.m.

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

The building is a little city contained in one big structure raised and established on a vast terrace ten meters nabove ground, from which one will see the mountain and the sea, floating upon, a public park, a tropical and aquatic garden, draw by Fernando Chacel.

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

This terrace is the public space; it is the gathering place that gives access to all facilities. There, Cidade das Artes will gather a large variety of places: a concert room, worldwide unique, because convertible in room of opera and in theatre, a room of chamber music and popular music, movie theatres, dance studios, numerous rehearsal rooms, exhibition spaces, restaurants, a media library.

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

The Cidade das Artes is seen as a large house, a great veranda above the city, homage to an archetype of Brazilian architecture. Between the two horizontal plates of the roof and the terrace are set the large curved concrete walls that contain the halls in an interplay of volumes and voids. The project is a public symbol, a new landmark in the greater Rio area, an urban signal, floating on the plain with a large visibility. The architecture echoes the beautiful curves of the Siera Atlantica Mountains and the line of the sea.The place will become, for the travellers of the train which will arrive on Ayrton Senna Avenue, the front door in Barra da Tijuca.

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Nelson Kon

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Image Courtesy © Christian de Portzamparc

Tags: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

Category: Cultural Center

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 4th, 2014 at 4:37 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.