This project was first shown in an international architectural competition for the Porto's celebration for te European City in 2001, and it was completely finished in april 2005.At a first look it seems to be irregular, compact, angular, faceted, with distorted walls and off balance,although it seems to be built around a principal block with the so called shoes-box shape. The dimentions and shape are also surprising.The aim is to create a space entirely dedicated to music, but it has a practical, structural and, most of all, social aim.It’s a public building, created specifically for people of all ages and music tastes.It was built, self-standing, just across from one of the main traffic and business centers of the city, known as Rotunda da Boavista, becoming a dividing line between the old and the new Porto and a positive encounter between two different models of the city. The place is important also because it influenced the architect.It has been influenced by different buildings (Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Marcel Breuer's Whitney Museum in New York, Dr Caligari's Cabinet and the italian Baroque theatres).Rem Koolhaas carried out the project with important collaborators (OMA,Petra Blaisse).The Casa da Musica is divided into rooms with different sizes and functions.He uses lots of different materials to built and decorate it (aluminium, glass, velvet,...) and also to change our perception of the indoor and outdoor spaces and to improve the acustic.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.casadamusica.com

www.oma.nl

New York Times (Rem Koolhaas learns not to overthink it)

The Architects’ journal, koolhaas’ concrete casa, 7 Aprile 2005

The observer, ‘We got rid of the shoe box’, 10 Aprile 2005

Financial Times, ‘The ridicolous to the sublime’, 27 April 2005 The Times, 4 June 2005

Cecilia Spampinato;Miriam Reyes