The Auditorium delle Arti is conceived as a perfect acoustic instrument, like a giant Stradivarius violin created by an architect. Considering the property of sound to rise upward and, as it rises, “expand”, revealing its beauty and strength, the hall is given a rounded, vertically elongated shape. Outside and inside, it will be lined with wood. At the same time, the orchestra pit will be located in the center, and seats for spectators (1,800 in total) will be located around it. Thanks to this, viewers will find themselves closer to the "epicenter" of the sound and to each other, and, unlike traditional halls, will see the faces of other visitors in front of them, and not the rows of the back of their heads. According to the architect, this should give rise to a sense of emotional involvement and strengthen the involvement of the audience in the musical process. The old mansion of Magnani (18th century), redeemed by the city, will also become part of the Auditorium complex: office premises and classrooms will be located there. It will be connected with the concert hall by underground and ground passages.
Once on the site of the future "Auditorium" there were the port and the Cavaticco canal, from the 14th century. which served as the center of this "industrial zone", which later turned into an area called the "Art Factory" (Manifattura delle Arti). A homogeneous urban fabric never emerged here - it was formed fragmentarily from separate buildings of different functions and shapes: MAMbo (Museum of Contemporary Art) occupied the former bakery, Cineteca (City Cinema Center) - the former market, separate buildings occupy the cultural center La Salara, Film Forum, DAMS Music and Theater Department, D. Costa Cultural Center. The “Auditorium”, which will be erected on the site vacated after the demolition of the Embassy cinema, is conceived as another such fragment, “as if it fell from the sky like a meteorite,” according to the poetic metaphor of Piano himself.
Renzo Piano also envisaged a set of measures that should give integrity to the space of this area and emphasize the central role of the concert hall in it. The Giardino del Cavaticco garden will be transformed into a green square, which will face the main façade of the Auditorium (behind it there is a spacious foyer and a recreation area), and which can be accessed from several points. New trees are planned to be planted in the 21 September Park to revive the dense array of buildings surrounding this recreational area. A music school building will be erected between the park and the concert hall, which will fence off the green space from the rest of the city. In addition, the entire interior of this arts quarter will be pedestrianized.
It is expected that the Auditorium will breathe new life into the area and become a stimulus for cultural and social life for it. This new concert hall will be built in Bologna according to the design of the conductor Claudio Abbado, who now directs the local Mozart Orchestra.
Authors: project workshop R. Piano, study of the environment - studio A. Traldi (Paris), Favero & Milan engineering, Acoustic systems Nagata Acoustics, Tokyo.
Customer: FONDAZIONE CASSA DI RISPARMIO DI BOLOGNA.
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