Walt Disney Concert Hall

Després d'estar al Dragon Parade del d'any xinés, vam anar al Downtown de Los Angeles a recollir el cotxe per tornar cap a casa. En el camí, ens vam trobar amb aquest preciós edifici, sorprenentment semblant al Museu Guggenheim de Bilbao. De fet, crec haver sentit que hi ha hagut veus de crtítica per la manca d'originalitat, tot i ser del mateix aquitecte, Frank Ghery. Sense discutir aquest fet, a mi m'agrada molt aquesta sala de concerts pagada per la familia Disney, ajudant a l'esforç de l'ajuntament per revitalitzar el Downtown, que fa gairebé un segle que va decaure degut a l'augment d'autopistes i propietaris de cotxes, que van comportar que la gent marxés a zones suburbanes. La sala de concerts es diu Walt Disney Concert Hall i es diu que té una de les millors acústiques del món. També és la seu de la Orquestra Filarmònica de Los Angeles i té una capacitat per 2265 espectadors.

Com a curiositat, comentar que aquest edifici va tenir uns problemes deguts al seu disseny, que feia que el panells laterals concaus reflectien la llum solar a edificis propers. El fet de ser concaus provocava que es concetrés la radiació solar en un feix reflectit més intens. Això va provocar que les temperatures pujéssin fins el 60ºC a l'interior de les habitacions d'alguns dels edificis del costat, fent-les pràcticament insuportables. Es va resoldre tornant a polir les superfícies amb un gra més gruixut, la qual cosa les feia menys reflectants.

After watching the Chinese New Year Dragon Parade, we went to Downtown Los Angeles to reach our car and head home. On our way we found this beautiful building, surprisingly similar to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Actually, I think I heard some criticism on its lack of originality, even though it is from the same architect, Frank Ghery. Without considering this, I really like this concert hall payed by the Disney family, helping the city council on its efforts to revitalize Downtown, that since almost a century ago started its decline due to the increase in freeways and car owner, that made people to move to suburban areas. The concert hall's name is Walt Disney Concert Hall and it is said to have one of the best acoustics in the world. It is also the home of the Los Angeles Philarmonic and has a capacity of 2.265 spectators.

As a fun fact, just mention that this building had problems due to its design, since its concave lateral panels reflected sunlight to near buildings. The fatc that they were concave made that the sunlight radiation was concentrated in a more intense reflected light beam. This caused that the temperature increased up to 60ºC in the interior of the rooms of some adjacent buildings, making them practically ubearable. This was solved by sanding again the surfaces with a bigger grain, reducing its glare.