Niemeyer and Ravello

The Auditorium in Ravello was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 2000, but various legal wrangles delayed the start of works until 2006.

With these problems now put aside, building work is now in full swing and should be finished by May 2009. What is finally taking shape is a simple and un-showy piece of architecture that makes its mark in its own discreet way. And it fits in. Discretion is a precious virtue in this enchanted location, suspended before a panorama of perfect beauty. Here one passes the time by just looking. A kind of spell falls on visitors and draws them irresistibly to the edge, so much so that one’s recollection of Ravello consist above all in what you see when your back is turned to the town. Placing a work of contemporary architecture in such a special context would have frightened many, yet, although Oscar Niemeyer’s architectural hallmark is present right from the early sketches, the project is clearly the product of the place for which it has been conceived. So we have the total white that recurrs in Mediterranean architecture and the seats for spectators who want to admire the natural contours of the land. It is certainly no coincidence then that the auditorium has been conceived together with a piazza. Those familiar with Ravello know how important the use of public space is: even today everything happens and is decided in the Piazza del Duomo. Soon a further space for interaction will be available, in the shade of a sacred temple to music and beauty. In short, you cannot help noticing how not even the auditorium manages to escape the spell that is cast on whoever enters the town; it, too, ends up turning its back on Ravello, to fix a broad, windowed gaze in the same direction as everyone else. You are there, facing it, hanging on the edge, contemplating the blue sea, blue sky and grey-green of the mountain. Laura Falcone

The Auditorium in Ravello was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 2000, but various legal wrangles delayed the start of works until 2006.

This system turns the outdoors into a custom experience

Time Space Existence: the Future of Architecture In Venice

Niemeyer and Ravello

The Auditorium in Ravello was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 2000, but various legal wrangles delayed the start of works until 2006.

This system turns the outdoors into a custom experience

Time Space Existence: the Future of Architecture In Venice

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