Officially named "Lyons Amphitheater", the new building completes the ensemble of the "International City" - a mixed-development quarter located between the Rhone and Tête d'Or park on a plot of 15 hectares. Its implementation began in the 1980s, when Piano and the landscape architect Michel Coraju won a competition to design a new development for the old Lyon International Fair.
The complex includes apartment buildings, hotels, including the Hilton Lion Hotel, the Museum of Modern Art, the UGC Ciné Cité multiplex, the Pharaoh casino and office buildings. The project is a strip stretching along the banks of the Rhone. It is flanked by two rows of "modular" buildings, between them is a glazed passageway. It is completed (or opened, depending on the pedestrian's point of view) by the circular building of the Lyon Amphitheater congress center.
The entire complex of the International City is surrounded by dense greenery, “immersed in the natural environment of the park,” according to Renzo Piano; nature almost dominates architecture.
The amphitheater is closely connected with the rest of the complex: its rear wall - a glass screen behind the stage of the auditorium - is also the end of the passage that runs along the axis of the "International City". Thus, the space formed there, the so-called "Public Square", can serve as a venue for various social events.
The semicircular volume of the Amphitheater is covered with silvery ceramic plates, and the roof is covered with zinc sheets. Inside, a semicircular space in red tones opens up to visitors, without clear distinctions on the lobby, hall and stage - like a circus or a stadium. The principle of the arrangement of spectator seats (their maximum number is 3000) can be changed depending on the type of event being held.
Below ground level, under the Amphitheater is the New Forum - an exhibition space of 5,400 sq. m. It will complement the first Forum, also located underground, next to the office complex and the Congress Palace, which are part of the "International City" ensemble.
