House of Music or Casa da Música is a unique institution dedicated solely to music and all kinds of musical performances or activities. It is situated in Porto, one of the oldest cultural cities not only in Portugal but in Europe, on Avenida da Boavista street. The building is also the first of its kind in Portugal, meaning that nowhere else can you find other "houses" devoted entirely to everything related to music.
The idea for the project of Casa da Música was first conceived in the late nineties of the twentieth century and was originally planned to be constructed to celebrate the year 2001. During that period, Porto was officially given the title of the Cultural Capital of Europe. However, problems with finances and other technical difficulties postponed its completion and opening for five years. On April 15, 2006, the House of Music finally went public and rapidly became the iconic landmark of the city.
The building is unique not only due to its unconventional purpose but architecture as well. House of Music enjoyed the bunch of original epithets and comparisons, like resembling a spaceship from Star Wars, the hull of the actual ship, a giant meteorite that landed in Porto or even a whimsical diamond. Indeed, it deserves all of the aforementioned figures of speech, owing to its design to the acknowledged Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas in cooperation with Office for Metropolitan Architecture. Up until now, House of Music has been said to be his best work. It is really an original building of asymmetrical polyhedron shape and twelve-stories high, which makes it very visible on Porto's skyline and also kind of alienated to all the other houses on the streets. Having been erected on the site of the old tram terminus, House of Music almost doesn't belong there but weirdly enough, it manages to fit in.
Inside of the institution also impresses the visitors - it features the only concert hall in the world which has two completely glass walls that stream down like waterfalls. Also, it has the auditorium for 1,300 spectators, along with other attributes like futuristic stairways, traditional azulejos tiles covering the lounge zone and the famous top-floor restaurant with one of the most intricate and sophisticated cuisine.
In House of Music, a lot of venues are held, from grandiose orchestral performances to modern parties. Thus, here people manage to cover almost every possible music genre and even host masterclasses for musicians or simply anyone who would like to learn something new or improve already present skills. Take a walk through this fascinating building, equally interesting for music and architectural lovers - House of Music will most definitely not disappoint you!
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