Music as an Inspiration for Architecture Design

In response to the theme of the upcoming shift issue, 5 sensations in architecture, I thought this could be an interesting project to look at. Steven Holl designed a private residence for art collectors, that explores the relationship between musical and architectural forms, alters the ordinary anticipation of a space with different sensations and arrives at unison and playfulness.

The Stretto House is located on a site adjacent to three ponds where a river runs through them. The river pours over the concrete dams which contain water within them. There is a constant murmuring sound created by the flowing water. Hence, the scenery is similar to the stretto form where musical phrases overlap one another. In particular, Steven Holl adopted Bartok's four part composition - Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste as the inspiration for his design. The challenge is to materialize musical characteristics and qualities in the construction of the house; to represent the following narrative:

Powerful flows of rhythmical divisions and irregular tensions made time seem to stand still or to rush forward with irresistible momentum.

The resulting composition encompasses the abstraction of the stretto form: overlapping floor planes connect one space to another in a continuous flow, while roof planes overlap one another and articulate with a different rhythm. The play between floor planes and roof planes creates the arched walls and a series of openings along the ceiling. At the same time, the spatial expression is an experimentation of light, materials and textures, smells and sound.

Domus commented on the project in the 1992 December issue, #744:

'A house surrounded by green becomes intensely articulate writing. In the style of a musical score, Holl composes a many-voiced dialogue between water and light, spaces and materials, nature and construction. A design but also a manifesto, in which the most abstract thought and professional craftsmanship meet beyond the limits of academy or hollow provocations.'

 Stretto House, 1989-1991

Location: Texas, United States
Program: Private residence
Size: 7,500 sf


websites: http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?id=26&worldmap=true
               http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com/2006/04/stretto-house-in-dallas-by-steven-holl.html

- Jesse

problematic PLAYGROUND

Isamu Noguchi's oeuvre is rich with designs for play spaces, although only a couple were ever realized.  The designs and models are abstract and quite surrealist and intended to be spaces open to endless interpretation rather than prescriptive of certain "playful" activities.

Taken from The Noguchi Museum's website, here the architect comments on the playground commissioned for the UN in New York City that was blocked by the infamous father of urban renewal, Robert Moses.

PLAYGROUND FOR UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY
1952, unrealized

The suggestion that I design a playground for the United Nations came from Mrs. Thomas Hess in early 1951. It was proposed that the spirit of idealism and good will engendered by the UN should be matched with a new and more imaginative playground for the small children of the delegates and of the neighborhood. A private subscription was raised for the building, and everybody was enthusiastic about it, including the people at the UN and, of course, myself.

Upon finishing the model and submitting it, I asked Julien Wittlesey, the architect, to join with Mrs. Hess in promoting its realization, as I had other things to do in Japan. That Robert Moses was so opposed to it should not have been the surprise that it was; I thought that this time he would not be concerned, because of the United Nations extraterritoriality. I had underestimated him.

The upshot was that the Museum of Modern Art showed the model in an exhibition in their children's department as a protest, in which the press joined: The playground was killed by ukase from a municipal official who is supposed to run the parks in New York, and who somehow is the city's self-appointed guardian against any art forms except banker's special neo-Georgian. The fact that he had no legal or moral right to dictate the UN's aesthetics was of concern only to the many distinguished educators, child welfare specialists and civic groups who had seen the model and had hailed it as the only creative step made in the field in decades...A jungle gym is transformed into an enormous basket that encourages the most complex ascents and all but obviates falls. In other words, the playground, instead of telling the child what to do (swing here, climb there) becomes a place for endless exploration, of endless opportunity for changing play. And it is a thing of beauty as the modern artist has found beauty in the modern world. Perhaps this is why it was so venomously attacked ('a hillside rabbit-warren') by the cheops of toll bridges. -- Art News, April, 1952

Eventually the United Nations had to submit to Moses who I understand threatened not to install the guard rail facing the East River.

- Sarah

Rodarte F/W 2009

Kate and Laura Mulleavy's latest fall collection for Rodarte was inspired by Gordon Matta Clark and reflects his theory of Anarchitecture and buildings in decay. View the full collection here.

-Steven

Serpentine Pavilion - SANAA

I was initially let down by the renderings of SANAA's Serpentine Pavilion, despite the fact that Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa are two of my favorite architects. It really wasn't until I saw this photograph that I could appreciate just how fascinating the the Serpentine Pavilion is and what SANAA were doing with transparency, lightness and reflection.

I bet you that it would crumble into silver dust if you were to touch it

-Steven Ischkin.

photo: jblacombe

George's Play

In the most recent Shift magazine, I discussed making common day buildings more playful - giving adults, just as we do for children, a chance to learn and grow through play. To do so we can learn not only from playgrounds but also nightclubs and bars - the adult jungle gyms we retreat to when the sun sets. George's Play is a bar/club on Church Street specializing in events such as drag queen shows and dance nights. Upon recommendation, a friend and I decided to explore this unique place.

The façade of the building is relatively unremarkable and un-telling – drab in colour and holding the potential to be merely a regular pub inside. But this it was not. Upon entering I found myself in a much happier, friendlier world than the one outside. What is it that made this place so comfortable and so good at making me dance with ease to the Latinfever-Abba-I will survive-Top-forty mix? I decided that a great part of it was the playful and eclectic interior décor/design.

Sometimes kitsch can be a good thing – especially when it’s in a place for play. Between the classical portico shelf holding liquor bottles above the bar, shirtless male torso statue, the Georgian (coincidence?) mirrors along the wall, the circus themed mural behind the stage, and the vintage (slightly suggestive) ads above the functional bar stools and tables – all mixed with rainbow neon lights and disco balls - there was no room to not fit in. It made me realise how strongly we generate an assumption about a place when it has a specific uniform décor, often with the aim of including a certain type of person, and excluding another. George’s Play has overcome this rigidity and has created a heaven of a playground that does not discriminate.

For more info: http://www.playonchurch.com/

-- Natalia Z.

Architectural Photography

I never quite liked architecture magazines or books. I always found the images to be flat and dull, even if technically masterful and the architecture beautiful. Perhaps it was the compositions devoid of people and the cold, objective ways built spaces are portrayed in two dimensions. Enter Julian Shulman. I had never heard, read, or seen any of his works until someone introduced me to this trailer and it's easy to instantly gain an appreciation of the medium.

I always thought that architecture should be experienced in the flesh. And while I still believe that is the best way to experience architecture, photography can bring a lot to it. From the sparse few images in the trailer and a rudimentary search on Shulman's work, it is immediately evident that his arrangement of geometry, line, and humanism creates a composition which stands out as an art form in itself. It would appear as if Shulman is the architectural-photographic version of Mies. Often copied but rarely perfected. I do not know where this movie will be screened in Canada but I'll certainly be on the look out for it.

-- Matt S.