Centro Cultural de Belem - Lisboa, Portugal
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 38° 41.748 W 009° 12.444
29S E 481964 N 4283040
Centro Cultural de Belém is a cultural centre in Lisbon. Its mission is the production and hosting of cultural events, from theatre to dance, from classical music to jazz, from opera to cinema.
Waymark Code: WMD7CG
Location: Lisboa, Portugal
Date Posted: 11/30/2011
Views: 12
Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) is managed by a private Foundation of public interest, its mission being the production and hosting of cultural events, from theatre to dance, from classical music to jazz, from opera to cinema. As part of its mission, CCB also hosts a conference centre, available for any kind of professional meetings.
The construction of Centro Cultural de Belém was decided in 1988. The main purpose was to raise a structure that could welcome and accommodate the Portuguese European Union Presidency, in 1992, remaining subsequently as a core facility for cultural and leisure activities.
An international architectural competition was held. 6 out of the 57 proposals received have been invited to develop a preliminary project. The selected proposal belonged to the architects consortium Vittorio Gregotti (Italy) and Manuel Salgado (Portugal). They designed the construction of five modules – Conference Centre, Performing Arts Centre, Exhibition Centre, Hotel Zone and Complementary Equipment. Only the first ones were raised, namely, the Conference Centre, the Performing Arts Centre and the Exhibition Centre.
The Conference Centre was conceived in order to support conferences and meetings of all nature or dimension. The building also includes the CCB general operation services, several stores, a restaurant, two bars and two parking areas, opened to the visitors.
The Performing Arts Centre is the core of the production and displaying of CCB cultural and artistic activities. The Performing Arts Centre is composed by three rooms of different dimensions, equipped to welcome diverse kind of shows: films, opera, ballet, theatre and music of any kind. The Main Auditorium holds 1429 seats, the Small Auditorium has a capacity of 348 seats and the Rehearsal Room holds 72 seats.
Finally, the Exhibition Centre is composed by a set of qualified areas, distributed along four galleries. These galleries display exhibitions of modern art, architecture, design and photography. Shops and a coffee shop complete this module, including also a place for the restoring and storage of pieces of art.
Since June 2007, the Exhibition Centre lodges the Foundation of Modern and Contemporary Art - Museum Collection Berardo.
With the project of the two remaining modules of the original plan currently under way, presently the CCB occupies a construction area of 97,000 sq meters, distributed along 60,000 sq meters and separated by two internal streets, connected by a pedestrian way, creating continuity with the Praça do Império outside. This building can be seen as a small city with gardens, lakes, bridges, slopes, and small hidden places, where the nobility of the Museum Square stands out.
OTHER INFO:
• Conference Centre - 30.500 sq m gross area
• Performing Arts Centre - 22.000 sq m gross area
• Exhibition Centre - 35.000 sq m gross area (8.000 sq m free for temporary exhibitions)
• 1,600 kilometres of electric cables
• 15,000 light bulbs
• 280 electric main board
• 2,600 fire, gas and intrusion sensors
• 700 temperature, moisture and pressure sensors
• 19 elevators and heavy-weight lifts
• 1,300 doors and gates
• 550 fans, boxes and air conditioned units.
From CCB website
Visit Instructions:
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