House of Music, an architectural symphony in Bologna, Italy
In Bologna, at Pieve di Cento, in Italy, a new artistic focal point has given new hope to the town devastated by an earthquake. The House of Music project, commissioned by the municipality and designed by Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA), contains a diverse program focusing mainly on music.
On a former site of Lamborghini factories, appropriated and rehabilitated by the municipality of Pieve di Cento as a leisure park, stands House of Music, in direct relation to the historic city center and the southern expansion of the city. Thus, inscribed in a flourishing context, the space would not only be intended for music lovers but for the entire municipality. The author of the building, Mario Cucinella Architects, has also set up an intervention concept inspired by the artistic traditions rooted in this village and the site. He then built a kind of landmark to promote the 4th art with the installation of nine independent entities, alternating music school and concert hall. These cylindrical oak volumes are connected by a central courtyard, an exchange space where the most spontaneous presentations and the most impulsive rehearsals take place. Based on load-bearing masonry and wooden panels covering the interior and exterior, the 500 m² project retains the sounds in its speakers and amplifies the resonances. Everything then comes into complete harmony, like the sound of a symphony. Illuminated at night, its radial lanterns restore a sense of hope for a less painful future.
