Paradiso, Popular music venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Paradiso is a concert hall in a Romanesque Revival church building at Weteringschans in Amsterdam. The two balconies follow the curve of the main room and frame the stage, while the high vault carries the sound throughout.
The building arose in 1879–1880 to designs by Gerlof Salm as a house of worship and received its new purpose on March 30, 1968. At that time the space was converted into a performance venue, while parts of the original interior were preserved.
The name comes from the Latin word for heaven and played a conscious role when the space was repurposed. Visitors enter through the former church doorway and experience performances beneath stained glass windows that give the hall its particular feel.
The main hall holds 1500 people and offers seating on the ground floor as well as on two surrounding galleries. A smaller upper room and a basement space complete the program with performances for fewer guests.
The original stained glass windows remained after the conversion and cast colored patterns into the space in daylight. The technical lighting and sound system was only later integrated into the old building fabric without hiding the architecture.
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