Auditorium Niemeyer (Auditorium New Energy)

Auditorium Niemeyer (Auditorium New Energy) Review

Crowning Via della Repubblica and the hillside, which overlooks the spectacular Bay of Salerno, Auditorium Niemeyer (now relabeled Auditorium New Energy) is a startling piece of modernist architecture. Designed with a dramatically curved, all-white roof by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (creator of Brasília), it was conceived as an alternative indoor venue for concerts, including those of the famed town music festival. The subject of much controversy since its first conception back in 2000, it raised the wrath of some locals who denounced such an ambitious modernist building in medieval Ravello. They need not have worried. The result, inaugurated in 2010, is a design masterpiece—a huge, overhanging canopied roof suspended over a 400-seat concert area, with a giant eye-shape window allowing spectators to contemplate the extraordinary bay vista during performances. The terrace's "LifeStyle" Lounge Bar complements the experience.