Eking past the previous winner in the arena for the world's wildest arts and cultural center, this so-called Casa das Artes has quite literally painted the town of Miranda do Corvo, Portugal red. Created by Lisbon architecture firm Future Architecture Thinking the bold design is meant to both mirror the surroundings—mainly in its intention to have the angular roof match the asymmetric roofs in town, along with the adjacent, jagged mountains—and, as the architects involved put it, build something "immediately recognizable by the public."
The spiky, red structure is actually made up of three different volumes, with a 300-person auditorium and foyer in the largest piece, a smaller stage in the next, and a combination cafeteria and art gallery in the third. And while the interiors didn't get the same shocking paint treatment as the exterior, they're instead a slightly sinister black with glowing red accents in the foyer and theater, and a surprisingly neutral white in the gallery and cafe. "More than a building, the Casa das Artes pretends to be an iconic landmark, celebrating the place where people meet, where culture and art happens," says the design team. "[It's] a space capable of promoting and stimulating creative activity, increasing the population quality of life." Dezeen has the full story, right this way.
· Art and culture centre with bright red walls by Future Architecture Thinking [Dezeen]