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MUSIC CENTRE VREDENBURG
H. HERTZBERGER, 1973-1979, Vredenburg, Utrecht
Muziekcentrum Vredenburg / Music Centre Vredenburg ( H. Hertzberger )
© 2015 Ossip van Duivenbode

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Herman Hertzberger

EXTENSION:
Jo Coenen & Co.

:
Architectuurstudio Herman Hertzberger

EXTENSION:
NL Architects
Architectuurcentrale Thijs Asselbergs

BUILDING TYPE:
Cinemas and theatres

STATE:
Architectuurstudio HH i.s.m. Jo Coenen & Co, NL Architects, Architectuurcentrale Thijs Asselbergs (ren. 2005-2014)

The large amphitheatre-like auditorium, which seats 1700, is encircled by shops and other facilities, separated from it by glass-roofed internal streets. Though the regular spacing of columns is most forceful, ancillary spaces do not relate to it but form a conglomeration of disparate 'moments'. A welter of entrances and exits, stairs and refreshment bars are grouped together here and there in 'home-sized' units. The facades derive directly from the functions they front. Unity is achieved by incorporating in the frontage a regular system of identical columns which respond individually to their immediate circumstances. The circular concrete columns and square concrete 'capitals' generate an architectural order of tremendous variety, 'unity in diversity' at a new level. Crowning the roof of the main auditorium is a large square rooflight, a reference to the glass box in Rietveld's Schröder House. In 2005 plans were presented to partially demolish and enlarge the music centre under Hertzberger's direction. The new design adds a tower of auditoria, each designed by a different architect (Jo Coenen & Co, NL Architects, Architectuurcentrale Thijs Asselbergs). Of the original building only the main auditorium is retained.