http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sandamichaela-1980698-porto4/

Casa da Música (House of Music) is a major concert hall space in Porto which houses the cultural institution of the same name with its three orchestras Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Orquestra Barroca and Remix Ensemble.

Casa da Música (House of Music) was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and was built as part of Porto's project for European Culture Capital in 2001 but was only finished in the first half of 2005 and immediately became an icon in the city.

The building's design has been highly acclaimed worldwide.

Nicolai Ouroussoff, architecture critic from the New York Times, classified it as the "most attractive project the architect Rem Koolhaas has ever built" and saying it's "a building whose intellectual ardor is matched by its sensual beauty. Only looking into the original aspect of the building, this is one of the most important concert halls built in the last 100 years".

Inside Outside (Petra Blaisse) designed the large 13 curtains, ranging from 22mx15m to 65mx8m, and the gold leaf wood grain pattern on the large auditorium.

Interior wall tiles

Interactive Computer Room at Casa da Musica

The main auditorium is suffused with daylight from the two walls made entirely of glass, an oddity in the music world as glass scatters sound in random directions.However, Koolhaas' ingenuity overcame the problem by making the glass ripple in tightly curved folds, and setting two glass sheets a metre apart to insulate the hall from exterior noise.

Addressing the idea that most cultural institutions only benefit a minority of people in any given place, Casa da Musica has been designed so that the building reveals its contents to the city, and everyone inside also has breathtaking views of the city and the sea. The façade is of concrete and glass.

Casa da Música has two main auditoriums, though many other areas of the building can very easily be adapted for concerts and other musical activity (workshops, educational activities, etc.).

The Casa da Musica is designed to create relationship between the concert hall and the public inside and outside the building.

Two years after opening, Casa da Musica received its first award, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) 2007 European Award, which is given out for outstanding contributions to architectural design in Europe. It was shortlisted for the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize.

The main auditorium is set high in the precision-moulded white concrete building and has a capacity of 1,238 and a stage that takes 110 musicians plus a choir of 143. An enormous rectangle, the main auditorium allows visibility through to the other public areas of the building, with parts of the sidewalls in glass, and two large glass walls, one behind the stage and the other behind the audience, offering fantastic views over Porto and out to sea.

The other, more flexible auditorium can accommodate 350 people sitting or 650 standing. The voids of the two concert spaces house the VIP rooms, public space, music shop and recording facilities, eight rehearsal rooms, IT and educational facilities.

The mobility of the stage and audience areas means that different atmospheres can be created in line with the event, be it a jazz, a recital or a DJ session.

Gamelan instruments exposed in Casa da Musica

Robotic Gamelan at Casa da Música

Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto

The restaurant at the top of the building

The restaurant at the top of the building

The restaurant at the top of the building

Oporto Vodafone Building

Principal Designers: José António Barbosa, Pedro Lopes Guimarães

Oporto Vodafone Building

Oporto Vodafone Building

Vodafone Headquarters, Porto

The Estádio do Dragão (literally Stadium of the Dragon) is a football stadium

Water Pavilion (Alexandre Burmester) This pavilion was built to be part of the Expo 1998 in Lisbon. It was rebuilt in Porto at the city park. The shape of the building stands like if it were levitating from the ground, coming out of a surface of water. Its structure is entirely made out of wood.

Situated in the heart of Parque da Cidade, the Oporto Water Pavillion is an example of re-utilisation of an architectural building formerly created to be part of the Lisbon Expo in 1998. Rebuilt and renovated in shape of a cube levitating from a water surface ground, this fully-wood structure came to a new life as a Science Water Museum which aims at spreading the importance of water resources and environmental preservation.

She Changes (Anémona), Praça da Cidade de Salvador

This newly completed sculpture commission by Janet Echelman, changes shape in the wind. 160 feet tall, the sculpture spans 300 feet and suspends over a three-lane highway roundabout on the Atlantic coastline in Porto. It is credited as the first permanent monumental sculpture to incorporate fluid movement and is called "one of the truly significant public artworks in recent years" by Sculpture Magazine.

The sculpture integrates the history of Porto, where a fishing village became an industrial area with smokestacks and tanks. The red and white stripe pattern of the smoke stack referencing elements continues into the sculptural net shape. The shape of the net mirrors the landscape below. The solid, unmoving forms on the ground accentuate the movement and changing forms in the air.

She Changes (Anémona) (The Sea Anemone) sculpture by artist Janet Echelman, Praça da Cidade de Salvador

Metro crossing the Luis 1 bridge (Puente Don Luis I)

Text and pictures: InternetCopyrights of the photos belong to each photographer

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Nuno Côrte-Real - 5 Pequenas Músicas de Mar