Built next to the Avilés estuary , it contrasts with the old town of the town and the traditional industrial image of the area thanks to its curved lines and its predominant white color. It is one of the few works by Niemeyer in Europe and the only one in Spain, its design being made a few years after receiving the Prince of Asturias Award .
During the month of March 2021, the center celebrated the 10th anniversary of its opening with a series of events that will be complemented throughout the year.
At the age of 82, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (creator of the city of Brasilia , a myth of universal architecture and until his death in 2012, the only living architect whose work is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO ) received the Prize Prince of Asturias de las Artes in 1989 in Oviedo by the hand of the future Felipe VI , this award being the origin of the architect's relationship with the Principality of Asturias .
Years later, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Prince of Asturias Awards , Niemeyer donated a great project to the Principality. This is the only work by Oscar Niemeyer in Spain and, in his own words, the most important of all he has done in Europe . For this reason, the Center was named after its creator. Described by the architect as "a square open to everyone, a place for education, culture and peace" When it was inaugurated, Oscar Niemeyer had turned 103 years old, participating with a video at the inauguration.
Location
The center is located in the Avilés estuary, once the nucleus of the heavy industry in the area. It is part of a larger project for the area known as Island of Innovation that aims to completely recover the estuary area, but today only the cultural center and the restoration of the river walk have been completed.
Spaces
The square : open to the public, in which cultural and recreational activities are scheduled. It reflects Oscar Niemeyer's concept of the open space. Public access to the square takes place in the daytime.
The auditorium : In the shape of a "snail", its stage opens onto the stalls but can also open onto the outdoor plaza for outdoor performances. It also has a foyer for exhibitions. In the mural on the side wall of the auditorium, the silhouette of a woman is found in black relief on a yellow background.
The dome : open-plan exhibition space of approximately 4,000 m² for exhibitions of all kinds. The silhouette of this construction is similar to other Niemeyer domes.
The tower : 18-meter-high circular viewpoint over the estuary accessed by an external spiral staircase. At the top was a restaurant.
The multipurpose building : which houses the Film Center, the gastrobar, several meeting and conference rooms, a shop and an educational space. It also houses offices.
Construction
The location of the project was the subject of debate, especially among the three main Asturian cities that competed to host the center ( Gijón , Oviedo and Avilés . The first stone was laid in April 2008 , giving way to the first soil studies prior to the development of the works. the first building to be built was the dome. They used a technique pioneered in cultural buildings in Spain to boost its structure in less than an hour.
Later, the "Multipurpose Building" began to be erected at the same time as the "Auditorium", built for the most part with concrete and glass. While these works were being carried out, the foundations of the "Lookout Tower" were built, which did not begin to be advanced in its construction until the other buildings of the complex were close to completion. Simultaneously, an underground car park was built, added to the work.
The large "open plaza" of the cultural center was paved with white concrete , to adapt the environment to the style of the buildings, and the sides of the "Auditorium" were painted in yellow tones, in contrast to white. A mural made of ceramic pieces, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, was also added . This mural represents the silhouette of a lying woman. The large door of the auditorium stage is red, contrasting with white and yellow. This door can be opened to turn the stage into a large box for performances and shows in the square.
Finally, the building of the old Municipal Fish Market on the other side of the estuary was adapted as a visitor reception center. For this, a walkway was built that crosses the building (which had to be demolished in part) known as "la grapa", connecting this space with the other bank of the estuary where, through a replica of an old metal bridge ("bridge de San Sebastián "), you enter the center. The inauguration took place in November 2011, through a televised speech from Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer and a concert by the filmmaker Woody Allen .
Niemeyer effect
In 2009, the American actor Brad Pitt , a follower of Oscar Niemeyer's architecture , came to Avilés to see the center. Kevin Spacey also visited the city on more than one occasion, creating a partnership between the Niemeyer Center and the "Old Vic Theater" in London and carrying out two performances in the city: The Tempest and Richard III of William Shakespeare both represented at the Palacio Valdés Theater . Woody Allen , also joined by Asturias for his Prince of Asturias Award, visited and performed at the center. The Center has also been a stop of theRuta Quetzal in July 2011.
However, the media soon stopped talking about the "Niemeyer effect", which originally intended to imitate the "Guggenheim effect" of Bilbao.
Activity
The Niemeyer Center welcomes different types of artistic and cultural manifestations, and numerous national and international artists from different fields have passed through its facilities (plastic arts, theater, cinema, photography, literature ...), such as Carlos Saura , Hugo Fontela , Herminio , Enrique Carbajal , Carlos Cruz Diez , Woody Allen , Kevin Spacey , Sharon Corr , Julian Schnabel , Jessica Lange , Alfonso Zapico , Annie Leibovitz , James Nachtwey , Nadia Lee Cohen,Spencer Tunick , etc. He has also had exhibitions Sorolla , Picasso...
Since its inception, the Niemeyer Center co-produces activities such as exhibitions, festivals such as the LGBTIQ Film Festival - Asturias , exhibitions such as LUZ by Carlos Saura , stage shows such as Utopia by María Pagés , etc.
Own collection
The Niemeyer Center has an archive of exhibition works that can be found both in the cultural complex itself and in the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, thus contributing to the cultural heritage of Asturias.
Temporary and itinerant exhibitions
The Niemeyer Center has spaces for temporary exhibitions through which works by artists such as Jessica Lange , Carlos Saura , Spencer Tunick , Sorolla , Picasso and a long etcetera have passed . In 2020, for the first time in the short history of the center, one of its exhibitions reaches the American continent: Montevideo, Uruguay, with the photographic exhibition “ The trip to Rome. Scholarship photographers at the Spanish Academy in Rome ”.
Niemeyer Center Foundation
In 2007 a foundation was created, whose full name is the Fundación Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer Principado de Asturias , in charge of managing the complex. The Foundation has a cultural management team in charge of scheduling activities in the different fields. The Foundation's objective is to internationalize the project, until it forms a solid network and creates a prestigious brand image: the Niemeyer Center. Oscar Niemeyer was an honorary patron of the Foundation.
In 2014, the Foundation called a public competition, from which Carlos Cuadros was elected as the new director / manager of the Niemeyer Center.
The Foundation's board of trustees has representatives from the public sector: the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports , the Ministry of Education of the Principality of Asturias , the Avilés City Council and the Port of Avilés . In turn, it also has representatives from the private sector such as Liberbank , Grupo Daniel Alonso and Asturiana de Zinc .
International advisory council
It also has an International Advisory Council that collaborates with the cultural management team in defining objectives and preparing content. Currently on this Council are the filmmaker Woody Allen , the scientist Stephen Hawking , the writer Paulo Coelho , the creator of the Internet and Vice President of Google, Vinton Cerf , the chef José Andrés and the actor Brad Pitt . A collaboration began with the London School of Economics and the Old Vic Theater in London(currently directed by actor Kevin Spacey ) and CaixaForum (from La Caixa). On October 17, 2008, the news broke that the Nigerian playwright, poet and writer Wole Soyinka , Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in 1986, also joined the support for the center. Visiting Asturias in 2011, to offer a talk and exhibition.
Overview of the Niemeyer Center
Controversy
Despite the success of visits and repercussion of the Niemeyer Center at national and international level, in its origins, some political sectors and members of Asturian cultural society criticized that in its beginnings the culture of the region was not further promoted in the Center, or that excessive public funds were dedicated to its financing while some of the important places of Asturian heritage were in danger, such as the pre-Romanesque monuments , declared a World Heritage Site (in 2010, the specific financing to finalize the construction of the center was more than 12 million euros, much higher than the investments on the Pre-Romanesque).
Following the local and regional elections in 2011, the new government raised a series of doubts about the management of the cultural complex. At that time some associations were mobilized, especially through Facebook , under the theme "I support the international cultural center Oscar Niemeyer", with the aim of defending the existence of the center. He had to do his best to show his independence from any political party. During the controversy, on December 15 the period for the cession of the buildings to the Niemeyer Center Foundation ends . The center was closed and a month later the cultural complex reopened with a new project and name. Through various manifestations and artistic events, the national media echoes the situation. Afterfew months, and after early elections in the Principality of Asturias , the new regional government decidedrecover the Niemeyer Center Foundation with the intention of recovering the original project turn.
The first management of the center during the years 2010 and 2011 entered a judicial process to clarify the accounting of the first years of existence of the complex. imputing the former director of the center at that time. In 2020 he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement.
Awards and recognitions
Best National Project in Barcelona Meeting Point (2010)
Best Urban Project in the Business Success Awards in Asturias. (2010)
Asturias icon today chosen by the readers of the newspaper El Comercio (2011)
II Prize in the category of laminated plasterboard at the VIII Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy Awards. June 2012
Public Award of the Festival de Jerez 2012 to "UTOPIA" of María Pagés (co - produced by the Center Niemeyer)
2016 Pink Triangle Award from the Asturian association Xega to highlight the positive action of this Asturian institution in favor of the LGBT community , through the organization of the LGBTIQ Film Festival - Asturias .
Most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2017 .
Third most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2019 .
Place recommended by The New York Times
Award for the Best Asturias XXI website organized by the newspaper El Comercio (Spain) in the Free Time and Leisure category .
Third most popular cultural institution Asturias in 2020.
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