Atelier Christian de Portzamparc - Cidade da Musica

Features

Under construction
Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
Cidade da Musica
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Barra de Tijuca is a new town in Rio de Janeiro’s southern outskirts. It is a long plain that lacks strong architectural events and urban marks.
The Cidade da Musica, situated in the center of two crossing highways imagined by Lucio Costa, will be the heart of the new town.

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

The Cidade da Musica is placed on a vast public terrace, ten meters above a garden designed by Fernando Chacel, that gives access to all concert rooms, movie theaters, rehearsal rooms, restaurant, library, shops, and the headquarter of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra.

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Between the two horizontal plates of the roof and the terrace the shapes of the concert rooms are set in an interplay of volumes and voids. Hollows between the blocks allows one to look through the building.
Seen as a large house on stilts, a great veranda above a garden with ponds, shade and trees, the Cidade da Musica is also an homage to an archetype of Brazilian architecture.

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
South West Elevation

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
South East Elevation

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
North Elevation

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
North West Elevation

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Grand stairs lead the public towards the entry to the Concert Hall.

Image © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

The project is an urban signal, a public symbol floating on the plain with a large visibility. The architecture also responds to the mountain curves of the Siera Atlantica and the line of the sea, guaranteed to be a major landmark of the greater Rio.

Photo © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
Concrete walls rise to a height of 30 meters to support the building.

Photo © Atelier Christian de Portzamparc

Sketch courtesy Christian de Portzamparc
First Sketch

Sketch courtesy Christian de Portzamparc
First Sketches

The program includes:
Philharmonic Hall seating 1800,
transformable into an Opera Hall seating 1300.
Chambre Music Room seating 500
Electroacoustic seating 180
Headquarters of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra
Rehearsal rooms
Media library
Two movie theaters seating 150
One movie theater seating 300
Restaurant, shops, administration offices, technical spaces and parking lots.

Total area: 46,000 square meters / 968,760 square feet
Expected completion: 2009

Client :
City Hall of Rio de Janeiro
Secretaria Municipal das Culturas.

Architects: Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
Construction documents: L.A. Rangel Arquitetos
Acoustics in France: XU Acoustique, Xu Ya Ying
Acoustics in Brazil: Acùstica & sônica
Scenography in France: Changement à Vue
Scenography in Brazil: Solé e Associados
Structural engineering: BETON Engenharia
Carlos Fragelli
Bruno Cantarini
Landscape design: CAP, Fernando Chancel

September 8, 2008