Essen Opera House

Alvar Aalto – Essen Opera House, Germany, 1959-1988

The Aalto theater (in German, Aalto-Musiktheater Essen) is a theater in the German city of Essen, designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.
It was inaugurated on September 25, 1988 with the performance of The Master Cantors of Nuremberg by Richard Wagner. It mainly hosts dance and opera events.
For Alvar Aalto it was his first opera theater project, he had unanimously won the 1959 competition, but construction only began in 1983, seven years after his death. The materials and the use of natural lighting recall the "organic architecture" characteristic of the Finnish architect and the building is immersed in a park in the city center.
The stage tower is completely integrated into the roof and the wavy gray granite façade and the dynamism of the windows seem to follow a musical score. The asymmetrical plan and the blue color of the seats are characteristic of the auditorium.