Renzo Piano designed the Parco della Musica on the site of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy. It includes three buildings which are called by Piano “music boxes”: Sala Santa Cecilia, Sala Sinopoli, and Sala Petrassi. It opened in December 2002 and reportedly receives a million visitors each year.
During construction, Piano designed a museum to accomodate a villa and an oil press from the 6th century B.C. that were uncovered. The lead-layered shells over the buildings give an appearance of three large beetles surrounding a central plaza and open-air theater.
The insect-like wood interior is nothing less than stunning. The red wood hangs like the interior of an ancient tent. As a whole, this complex is a barren edifice waiting to be illuminated by an artistic performance. The modern approach respects the historic context and indicates something great that once occurred there- or has yet to happen.
(zak mc– flickr/creative commons license
(zak mc– flickr/creative commons license
(Kronk84– flickr/creative commons license)
(__FurinO– flickr/creative commons license)
(__FurinO– flickr/creative commons license)
