Auditorium Parco della Musica is a large multi-functional public music complex in Rome, Italy. The complex is situated in the north of the city, in the area where the 1960 Summer Olympic Games were held.
Parco della Musica was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Jürgen Reinhold from Müller-BBM was in charge of acoustics in the three concert halls; Franco Zagari was landscape architect for the outdoor spaces.
The three large concert halls are Sala Petrassi, in memory of Goffredo Petrassi, about 700 seats; Sala Sinopoli, in memory of Giuseppe Sinopoli, about 1200 seats; and Sala Santa Cecilia, about 2800 seats. They are structurally separated to ensure soundproofing, though joined at the base by a continuous lobby. A fourth "concert hall", called Cavea, is the open air theater recalling ancient Greek and Roman theaters.
The fan-shaped layout is formed around the central piazza.
Structures have several nicknames such as blobs, beetles, scarabs, turtles, insect carapaces, computer mice.
During construction, excavations uncovered the foundations of a villa and oil press dating from sixth century BC.
Renzo Piano redesigned the facility to accommodate the archaeological remains and included a small museum to house the artifacts that were discovered. Such changes delayed the project by a year.
The Parco della Musica was formally inaugurated on 21 December 2002; in few years it became Europe's most visited music facility. In 2014 it had over two million spectators, making it the second most visited cultural music venue in the world, after Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is located at the Parco della Musica.