The site is structured by two highways that cross. On the centre of this cross imagined by Lucio Costa, the Cidade da Musica will be in the very heart of the new town.
The Cidade da Musica is raised and established on a vast terrace ten meters above a garden designed by Fernando Chacel. This terrace is the public space, it is the gathering place that gives access to all concert rooms, movie theaters, rehearsal rooms, restaurant, library, shops, and the headquater of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra.
The Cidade da Musica is seen as a large house on stilts, a great veranda above a garden with ponds, shade and trees. Also, it is an homage to an archetype of Brazilian architecture. Between the two horizontal plates of the roof and the terrace are set the shapes of the concert rooms in an interplay of volumes and voids.
The project is an urban signal, a public symbol floating on the plain with a large visibility. The architecture responds also to the beautiful mountain curves of the Siera Atlantica and the line of the sea, this place has the guarantee of being a major landmark of the greater Rio.
Philharmonic Hall of 1800 places transformable into an Opéra Hall of 1300 places. Chame Music Room of 500 places. Electroacoustic of 180 places. Headquarters of the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra. Rehearsal rooms, media library, 2 cinemas with 150 seats, 1 cinema with 300 seats, restaurant, shops, administration offices, technical spaces and parking lots. Description from the Architects:
In between the sea and the mountain, this project constitutes a great landmark at the center of the plain of Barra da Tijuca. A public terrace heightened to 10 meters and overhanging a tropical garden, enables the visitors to embrace the great landscape before reaching the various halls. The main concert hall conveys the same spirit as those in Paris and in Luxembourg. The scenic design rediscovers the features of the Elizabethan theater, the musicians being surrounded by the audience.
Project Data Project name: Cidade da Música Roberto Marinho Location: Barra de Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Program: Concert hall, music room, offices, rehearsal rooms, media library, cinemas, restaurants, shops, technical spaces and parking lots Net area: 46,000 m2
Gross Total Area: 90,000 m2
Main concert hall area: 2,683 m2 Commissioned: 2002
Construction start: 2004
Completion of major construction: December 2008 (construction stopped January 2009) Completion: 2011
