Home, Sweet Home

It's safe to presume that every city and most big towns have at least one public building associated with music: an opera house, a theatre, a philharmonic- or a concert hall. The latter are usually named after the principal donor who willed the structure into existence, in the first place - such as Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Carnegie Hall in New York City, or Massey Hall in Toronto. The other types would habitually attach themselves to the name of the city, Sydney Opera House or Berliner Philarmoniker being typical examples. The genre division is also pretty traditional as it's either explicitly mentioned for opera houses and musical theatres, or implicitly understood when it comes to philharmonic halls living up to their name: "philharmonic" literally means "harmony-loving", and harmony is the foundation of what's known as "classical music". Concert halls are more flexible, and that allows them to occupy the "Jack of all genres" niche. Whatever the similarities and the differences between those cultural institutions are, all of them function as places where music is played. In 2005, Porto broke with that centuries-long tradition by creating a place where music would live. 

It all started with a name, and "Casa da Musica" immediately indicated what the building was to be about: not a sponsor or even the city but, first and foremost, Music itself. However, the meaning of the whole heavily depended upon the remaining word that can be translated as either "house" or "home". In that respect, English is more direct: it has houses that are physical structures, and homes that are places where one keeps returning because that's where one's soul lives. The two are related but not too closely: while most (not all!) homes are houses, there are plenty of houses that aren't homes. The southern language is softer, more equivocal, and there is no such dichotomy - "casa" can be either or both, and that leaves room for interpretation. "Casa da Musica" affirmed its self-interpretation by choosing its slogan "Come to enjoy Music at its own home!"

The rest followed naturally. Homes thrive on imagination, and an international team led by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed a project that turned a former staging area for trams into a futuristic ship (on the cover picture). Homes are decorated with love, and Casa da Musica welcomed the best Portugal had to offer - the famous azulejo tiles 

Homes are built with welcoming spaces in mind, both inside and outside - and Porto's Home welcomes not only music lovers but also casual onlookers and skateboarders 

Finally, really good homes are versatile, as well as comfortable and beautiful, and Casa checks all those boxes. Its cutting edge technology of sound isolation allows it to stage simultaneous performances, while its variety of sophisticated blinds turns daylight into a co-performer when its participation can enhance the music

And even some auxiliary areas are refined and stylish

Already a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, Porto's enrichment with Casa da Musica turned it into one of the most important cultural hubs in Europe - so much so that in 2022 the city was proclaimed "The Best City Destination in the World" - a cultural award otherwise known as "Oscar of Tourism".