Álvaro Siza completes red brick theatre near Barcelona
Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza has built a red brick theatre in Llinars del Vallès, a village outside Barcelona (+ slideshow).
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_13.jpg)
The Pritkzer Prize-winning architect worked with local studio Aresta Arquitectura on the Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès, which was commissioned as part of a public investment in cultural facilities for the region.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_11.jpg)
The complex is formed from two volumes, one containing a 300-seat auditorium and the other housing the theatre's offices.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_0.jpg)
The auditorium volume has three floors – one below ground containing technical equipment and two above containing the stage and seating.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_9.jpg)
Like the South Korean museum for modern art Siza designed with architects Carlos Castanheira and Jun Sung Kim – which is said to be inspired by a drawing of a cat – the auditorium building features a mixture of straight and curving walls.
![Public Auditorium Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_1.jpg)
The tiered seating area of the auditorium is topped by a gently curving metal roof. A brick fly tower that extends above this roofline is used to host the theatre's backdrops.
Dressing rooms, a rehearsal space and warehouse are set alongside administration offices in the accompanying two-storey block.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_3.jpg)
Staircases and service spaces are set outside the main volumes, creating a series of narrow outcrops that project away from the building and cast dark shadows over the red brick walls.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_7.jpg)
Long panoramic windows and glass doorways puncture the brickwork, which is imprinted with the manufacturer's markings.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_24.jpg)
Álvaro Siza is currently working on his first US project, a luxury apartment block in New York's Manhattan that will rise to 128 metres.
![Public Auditorium in Llinars del Vallès by Alvaro Siza Vieira](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/01/public-auditorium-llinars-del-valles-alvaro-siza-vieira-catalonia-spain_dezeen_936_21.jpg)
Among the 82-year-old architect's previous projects are a shrimp-shaped office building that sits in the middle of an artificial lake in China's Jiangsu province and the conversion of an old teahouse in his hometown of Porto into a seafood restaurant.
In an interview with Dezeen last year, he said his projects are never finished "because we never have enough time".
Photography is by Joao Morgado.