House of Music (Casa da Musica)
Casa da Música is the main concert hall located on Avenida da Boavista, in Oporto, Portugal. It was designed by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas as part of the European Capital of Culture event in 2001 (Porto 2001), however, the construction was only completed in 2005, immediately becoming an icon of the city. The architecture of the building was acclaimed internationally. Nicolai Ouroussoff, a New York Times architecture critic, called it "the most attractive project that architect Rem Koolhaas has ever built" and as "a building whose intellectual ardor is combined with its sensual beauty. The surrounding outdoor space is lined with Jordanian marble slabs. Exterior and interior walls in white reinforced concrete, glass plates and aluminum frames. Approximately 17.000 m3 of white concrete were used for external and visible structures and 18.000 m3 for structures such as parking and foundations.