The Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center or Niemeyer Center, is a cultural space designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the Asturian city of Avilés (Spain).
Built next to the Avilés estuary, its curvilinear white structure contrasts with the old town of the town and the industrial image of the area. It is the only work in Spain by Niemeyer, Prince of Asturias Prize for the Arts in 1989. The center was institutionally inaugurated on December 15, 2010, [1] although its official opening did not occur until March 26, 2011.
[2].
Origin and design
At the age of 82, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (designer of the city of Brasilia, 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 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 1989 in Oviedo from 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 large project to the Principality. This is Oscar Niemeyer's only work in Spain and, in his own words, the most important[3] of all those 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."[4] When it was inaugurated, Oscar Niemeyer had turned 103 years old, participating with a video at the inauguration.
Description
The center is located in the Avilés estuary, once the center of heavy industry in the area. It is part of a larger project for the area known as Innovation Island that aims to completely recover the estuary area,[5] but to date only the cultural center and the restoration of the river walk have been completed.
• - The plaza: open to the public, where cultural and recreational activities are programmed. It reflects Oscar Niemeyer's concept of an open place. Public access to the square is during the daytime.
Niemeyer Center
Introduction
The Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Center or Niemeyer Center, is a cultural space designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the Asturian city of Avilés (Spain).
Built next to the Avilés estuary, its curvilinear white structure contrasts with the old town of the town and the industrial image of the area. It is the only work in Spain by Niemeyer, Prince of Asturias Prize for the Arts in 1989. The center was institutionally inaugurated on December 15, 2010, [1] although its official opening did not occur until March 26, 2011.
[2].
Origin and design
At the age of 82, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (designer of the city of Brasilia, 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 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 1989 in Oviedo from 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 large project to the Principality. This is Oscar Niemeyer's only work in Spain and, in his own words, the most important[3] of all those 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."[4] When it was inaugurated, Oscar Niemeyer had turned 103 years old, participating with a video at the inauguration.
Description
The center is located in the Avilés estuary, once the center of heavy industry in the area. It is part of a larger project for the area known as Innovation Island that aims to completely recover the estuary area,[5] but to date only the cultural center and the restoration of the river walk have been completed.
• - The auditorium: In the shape of a "snail", its stage opens towards the stalls but can also open towards the outside plaza for outdoor performances. It also has a room for photography exhibitions. In the mural on the side wall of the auditorium, the silhouette of a woman is discovered in black relief on a yellow background.
• - The Dome: The Dome is an open space of approximately 400 square meters intended for exhibitions and artistic activities of various kinds. It is a semisphere made of shotcrete whose interior features a rounded lamp designed by Oscar Niemeyer himself, as well as an imposing helical staircase of great plastic value. The silhouette of this construction is similar to other Niemeyer domes.
• - The tower: It constitutes a viewpoint over the estuary and the city of Avilés. Measuring 20 meters high, it has an exterior helical access that hugs a base column to reach the upper element, a disk surrounded by windows.
• - The multipurpose and administrative building: which houses the box office/reception, the cinema room, the cafeteria, several meeting/conference rooms and the complex's offices.
The location of the project was a matter of debate, especially between 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. A pioneering technique in cultural buildings in Spain was used to raise its structure in less than an hour.[6].
Later, the "Multipurpose Building" began to be built along with the "Auditorium", built mostly with concrete and glass. While this work was being carried out, the foundations of the "Lookout Tower" were built, which did not begin to be advanced in construction until the other buildings in the complex were close to completion. Simultaneously, an underground parking lot was built, added to the work.
The large "open plaza" of the cultural center was paved with white concrete, to match the style of the buildings, and the sides of the "Auditorium" were painted in yellow tones, in contrast to the 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 to the auditorium stage is red, contrasting with the white and yellow. This door can be opened to convert 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 purpose, a walkway was built that crosses the building (which had to be partially demolished) known as "la grapa", connecting this space with the other bank of the estuary where through a replica of an old metal bridge ("Puente de San Sebastián"), you access the center.
The inauguration took place in March 2011, through a televised speech from Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer and a concert by filmmaker Woody Allen.
In 2009, the American actor Brad Pitt, a follower of Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, came to Avilés to see the center.[7] Kevin Spacey also visited the city on more than one occasion, creating a collaboration between the Niemeyer Center and the "Old Vic Theater" in London and carrying out two performances in the city: The Tempest "The Tempest (play)") and Richard III "Richard III (play)"), both by William Shakespeare performed at the Palacio Valdés Theater. Woody Allen, linked to Asturias also for his Prince of Asturias award, visited and performed at the center.
The Center has also been a stop on the Quetzal Route[8] in the month of July 2011.[9].
Activity
The Niemeyer Center hosts 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 "Herminio Álvarez (sculptor)"), 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. It has also had exhibitions by Sorolla,[10][11] Picasso[12]...
Since its origin, the Niemeyer Center has co-produced activities such as exhibitions Tres Mujeres Magnum - Eve Arnold, Inge Morath and Cristina García Rodero"),[13] festivals such as the LGBTIQ Film Festival - Asturias, exhibitions such as LUZ by Carlos Saura, stage shows such as Utopia by María Pagés, etc.
The Niemeyer Center has an archive of exhibition works that are found both in the cultural complex itself and in the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, thus contributing to the cultural heritage of Asturias.[14].
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 through.
In 2020, for the first time in the brief history of the center, one of its exhibitions reaches the American continent: Montevideo, Uruguay, with the photographic exhibition "The trip to Rome. Fellow photographers at the Academy of Spain in Rome".[15].
Niemeyer Center Foundation
Contenido
En 2007 se crea una fundación, cuyo nombre completo es Fundación Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer Principado de Asturias, la encargada de la gestión del complejo. La Fundación cuenta con un equipo de gestión cultural encargado de la programación de actividades en los distintos campos. El objetivo de la Fundación es internacionalizar el proyecto, hasta llegar a formar una red de trabajo sólida y crear una imagen de marca prestigiosa: el Centro Niemeyer.
Oscar Niemeyer fue patrono honorífico la Fundación.
En 2014 la Fundación convoca un concurso público del que sale elegido Carlos Cuadros[16] como nuevo director/gestor del Centro Niemeyer.
El patronato de la Fundación cuenta con representantes[17] del sector público: el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, la Consejería de Educación del Principado de Asturias, el Ayuntamiento de Avilés y el Puerto de Avilés. A su vez también cuenta con representantes del sector privado como el Grupo Daniel Alonso y 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 part of this Council are the filmmaker Woody Allen,[18] the scientist Stephen Hawking,[19] the writer Paulo Coelho,[20] the creator of the Internet and Vice President of Google, Vinton Cerf, the chef José Andrés and the actor Brad Pitt.[21]
A collaboration began with the London School of Economics and with 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 in Literature in 1986, was also joining the support for the center. Visiting Asturias in 2011, to offer a talk and exhibition.
Controversy
Despite the success of visits and impact of the Niemeyer Center at a national and international level, in its origins some political sectors and members of the Asturian cultural society criticized that in its beginnings the culture of the region was not promoted more in the Center, or that excessive public funds were dedicated to its financing while some of the relevant places of Asturian heritage were in danger such as the pre-Romanesque monuments, declared World Heritage (in 2010 the specific financing to complete the construction of the center was more than 12 million euros,[22] much higher than the investments made during the Pre-Romanesque period).
After the local and regional elections of 2011, the new Government raised a series of doubts about the management of the cultural complex. At that time, some associations mobilized, especially through Facebook, under the theme "I support the Oscar Niemeyer international cultural center", with the aim of defending the existence of the center. He had to do everything possible to show his independence from any political party. [23]
During the controversy, the period of transfer in use of the buildings to the Niemeyer Center Foundation ends on December 15. The center was closed and a month later the cultural complex reopened with a new project and name.
Through various demonstrations and artistic events, the national media echoed the situation.[24][25] After a few months, and after early elections in the Principality of Asturias, the new regional government decided to recover the Niemeyer Center Foundation with the intention of recovering the original project. [26].
The first management of the center during the years 2010 and 2011 entered into judicial proceedings to clarify the accounting of the first years of the complex's existence, [27] indicting the former director of the center at that time, Natalio Grueso"). In 2020 he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement. [28].
Awards and recognitions
• - Best National Project at Barcelona Meeting Point (2010)[29].
• - Best Urban Project in the Business Success Awards in Asturias. (2010)[30].
• - Icon of today's Asturias chosen by the readers of the newspaper El Comercio (2011)[31].
• - II Prize in the laminated gypsum board category at the VIII Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy Awards. June 2012[32].
• - Public Award at the 2012 Jerez Festival to "UTOPÍA" by María Pagés (co-production of the Niemeyer Center)[33].
• - 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.[34].
• - Most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2017.[35].
• - Third most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2019.[36].
• - Place recommended by The New York Times[37].
• - Award for Best website in Asturias XXI organized by the newspaper El Comercio (Spain) "El Comercio (Spain)") in the category of Free time and Leisure.[38].
• - Third most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2020.[39].
• - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
• - Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias.
• - Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art of Seville (CAAC).
• - Atlantic Center of Modern Art of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (CAAM).
• - Madrid Public Art Museum.
• - Museum of Spanish Abstract Art of Cuenca.
• - Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León (MUSAC).
• - Alcalá de Henares Open Air Sculpture Museum.
• - Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum in Madrid.
• - National Museum of Sculpture Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid.
• - Official website of the Niemeyer Center (In Spanish and English).
• - The plaza: open to the public, where cultural and recreational activities are programmed. It reflects Oscar Niemeyer's concept of an open place. Public access to the square is during the daytime.
• - The auditorium: In the shape of a "snail", its stage opens towards the stalls but can also open towards the outside plaza for outdoor performances. It also has a room for photography exhibitions. In the mural on the side wall of the auditorium, the silhouette of a woman is discovered in black relief on a yellow background.
• - The Dome: The Dome is an open space of approximately 400 square meters intended for exhibitions and artistic activities of various kinds. It is a semisphere made of shotcrete whose interior features a rounded lamp designed by Oscar Niemeyer himself, as well as an imposing helical staircase of great plastic value. The silhouette of this construction is similar to other Niemeyer domes.
• - The tower: It constitutes a viewpoint over the estuary and the city of Avilés. Measuring 20 meters high, it has an exterior helical access that hugs a base column to reach the upper element, a disk surrounded by windows.
• - The multipurpose and administrative building: which houses the box office/reception, the cinema room, the cafeteria, several meeting/conference rooms and the complex's offices.
The location of the project was a matter of debate, especially between 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. A pioneering technique in cultural buildings in Spain was used to raise its structure in less than an hour.[6].
Later, the "Multipurpose Building" began to be built along with the "Auditorium", built mostly with concrete and glass. While this work was being carried out, the foundations of the "Lookout Tower" were built, which did not begin to be advanced in construction until the other buildings in the complex were close to completion. Simultaneously, an underground parking lot was built, added to the work.
The large "open plaza" of the cultural center was paved with white concrete, to match the style of the buildings, and the sides of the "Auditorium" were painted in yellow tones, in contrast to the 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 to the auditorium stage is red, contrasting with the white and yellow. This door can be opened to convert 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 purpose, a walkway was built that crosses the building (which had to be partially demolished) known as "la grapa", connecting this space with the other bank of the estuary where through a replica of an old metal bridge ("Puente de San Sebastián"), you access the center.
The inauguration took place in March 2011, through a televised speech from Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer and a concert by filmmaker Woody Allen.
In 2009, the American actor Brad Pitt, a follower of Oscar Niemeyer's architecture, came to Avilés to see the center.[7] Kevin Spacey also visited the city on more than one occasion, creating a collaboration between the Niemeyer Center and the "Old Vic Theater" in London and carrying out two performances in the city: The Tempest "The Tempest (play)") and Richard III "Richard III (play)"), both by William Shakespeare performed at the Palacio Valdés Theater. Woody Allen, linked to Asturias also for his Prince of Asturias award, visited and performed at the center.
The Center has also been a stop on the Quetzal Route[8] in the month of July 2011.[9].
Activity
The Niemeyer Center hosts 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 "Herminio Álvarez (sculptor)"), 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. It has also had exhibitions by Sorolla,[10][11] Picasso[12]...
Since its origin, the Niemeyer Center has co-produced activities such as exhibitions Tres Mujeres Magnum - Eve Arnold, Inge Morath and Cristina García Rodero"),[13] festivals such as the LGBTIQ Film Festival - Asturias, exhibitions such as LUZ by Carlos Saura, stage shows such as Utopia by María Pagés, etc.
The Niemeyer Center has an archive of exhibition works that are found both in the cultural complex itself and in the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias, thus contributing to the cultural heritage of Asturias.[14].
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 through.
In 2020, for the first time in the brief history of the center, one of its exhibitions reaches the American continent: Montevideo, Uruguay, with the photographic exhibition "The trip to Rome. Fellow photographers at the Academy of Spain in Rome".[15].
Niemeyer Center Foundation
Contenido
En 2007 se crea una fundación, cuyo nombre completo es Fundación Centro Cultural Internacional Oscar Niemeyer Principado de Asturias, la encargada de la gestión del complejo. La Fundación cuenta con un equipo de gestión cultural encargado de la programación de actividades en los distintos campos. El objetivo de la Fundación es internacionalizar el proyecto, hasta llegar a formar una red de trabajo sólida y crear una imagen de marca prestigiosa: el Centro Niemeyer.
Oscar Niemeyer fue patrono honorífico la Fundación.
En 2014 la Fundación convoca un concurso público del que sale elegido Carlos Cuadros[16] como nuevo director/gestor del Centro Niemeyer.
El patronato de la Fundación cuenta con representantes[17] del sector público: el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, la Consejería de Educación del Principado de Asturias, el Ayuntamiento de Avilés y el Puerto de Avilés. A su vez también cuenta con representantes del sector privado como el Grupo Daniel Alonso y 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 part of this Council are the filmmaker Woody Allen,[18] the scientist Stephen Hawking,[19] the writer Paulo Coelho,[20] the creator of the Internet and Vice President of Google, Vinton Cerf, the chef José Andrés and the actor Brad Pitt.[21]
A collaboration began with the London School of Economics and with 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 in Literature in 1986, was also joining the support for the center. Visiting Asturias in 2011, to offer a talk and exhibition.
Controversy
Despite the success of visits and impact of the Niemeyer Center at a national and international level, in its origins some political sectors and members of the Asturian cultural society criticized that in its beginnings the culture of the region was not promoted more in the Center, or that excessive public funds were dedicated to its financing while some of the relevant places of Asturian heritage were in danger such as the pre-Romanesque monuments, declared World Heritage (in 2010 the specific financing to complete the construction of the center was more than 12 million euros,[22] much higher than the investments made during the Pre-Romanesque period).
After the local and regional elections of 2011, the new Government raised a series of doubts about the management of the cultural complex. At that time, some associations mobilized, especially through Facebook, under the theme "I support the Oscar Niemeyer international cultural center", with the aim of defending the existence of the center. He had to do everything possible to show his independence from any political party. [23]
During the controversy, the period of transfer in use of the buildings to the Niemeyer Center Foundation ends on December 15. The center was closed and a month later the cultural complex reopened with a new project and name.
Through various demonstrations and artistic events, the national media echoed the situation.[24][25] After a few months, and after early elections in the Principality of Asturias, the new regional government decided to recover the Niemeyer Center Foundation with the intention of recovering the original project. [26].
The first management of the center during the years 2010 and 2011 entered into judicial proceedings to clarify the accounting of the first years of the complex's existence, [27] indicting the former director of the center at that time, Natalio Grueso"). In 2020 he was sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement. [28].
Awards and recognitions
• - Best National Project at Barcelona Meeting Point (2010)[29].
• - Best Urban Project in the Business Success Awards in Asturias. (2010)[30].
• - Icon of today's Asturias chosen by the readers of the newspaper El Comercio (2011)[31].
• - II Prize in the laminated gypsum board category at the VIII Saint-Gobain Gypsum International Trophy Awards. June 2012[32].
• - Public Award at the 2012 Jerez Festival to "UTOPÍA" by María Pagés (co-production of the Niemeyer Center)[33].
• - 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.[34].
• - Most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2017.[35].
• - Third most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2019.[36].
• - Place recommended by The New York Times[37].
• - Award for Best website in Asturias XXI organized by the newspaper El Comercio (Spain) "El Comercio (Spain)") in the category of Free time and Leisure.[38].
• - Third most valued cultural institution in Asturias in 2020.[39].
• - Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
• - Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias.
• - Andalusian Center of Contemporary Art of Seville (CAAC).
• - Atlantic Center of Modern Art of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (CAAM).
• - Madrid Public Art Museum.
• - Museum of Spanish Abstract Art of Cuenca.
• - Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León (MUSAC).
• - Alcalá de Henares Open Air Sculpture Museum.
• - Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum in Madrid.
• - National Museum of Sculpture Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid.
• - Official website of the Niemeyer Center (In Spanish and English).