Completion Date: March 2011

Owner: Principado de Asturias

Program: A 178,950-square-foot cultural center overlooking the estuary of the Ría de Avilés. The project consists of four structures anchoring an expansive public plaza: a 961-person auditorium, a domed open-plan museum, a lookout tower, and a multipurpose building that houses a theater, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. A curving concrete canopy connects the museum and auditorium. The center is the only project by Oscar Niemeyer in Spain, and is part of the revitalization of the city's industrial port.

Design Concept and Solution: The sweeping curves and spheres of the center's post-tensioned-concrete structures reflect the sculpturally expressionistic style for which Niemeyer is so well known. But unlike the gleaming white buildings he designed for Brasília in the late 1950s, these structures have a splash of color. The sloping exterior of the auditorium features bold shapes in red and yellow, along with a spare sketch of a nude—a nod to Niemeyer's oft-cited inspiration of the female form. Glass and terrazzo round out the modern materials palette.

Total construction cost: €44 million

Architect:
Oscar Niemeyer
Avenida Atlantica 3940 
CEP 22070-002
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ph: 55 21 8123-5321