Chosen by the European Union as one of the cultural capitals of Europe in 2001, the Portugal city of Porto embarked on constructing a new concert hall for the city. An architectural competition between 5 of the world’s top practices, of which the plan by Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) won the competition.
Members of OMA considered several important factors during the preliminary phase, including the location of the new structure at the heart of the historical Rotunda da Boavista neighborhood. Acoustics also played a part, with OMA assessing the optimum structural forms to enhance sound quality. With considerations on both exterior and interior, OMA created an unique multi-faceted polygon structure. Completed in 2005, the new concert hall, Casa da Musica, housed 2 main auditoriums, as well as numerous rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms, and etc…
In order to create a new identity for such a profound structure, the institution that manage Casa de Musica asked New York-based graphic artist Stefan Sagmeister to come up with a new logo system. Utilizing the 17 facets on the building, Sagmeister and team formulated a method with infinite amount of outcomes. A special software was fashioned to render 17 fixed points on an image and transfer them onto corresponding “sides” on miniature Casa de Musica silhouette. Next, the silhouette is put through 6 variations, basically the view of the concert hall from north, south, east, west, top and bottom. Though somewhat complex, Sagmeister’s new creation allows endless possibilities in logo design.
» Stefan Sagmeister
» OMA
» Casa de Música
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