The Singing Buildings · An architectural etude

The Singing Buildings

An architectural etude

How rhythm and melody can give structure and order to architecture? Or, how harmony can set the guidelnes to design the mood of a space? The following document consist in the analysis and study of the relationship between architecture and music under the statement that music and architecture share common principles. In addition with studying alternative ways of music notation and analyzing how this non conventional ways of composing can give the guidelines to generate architecture; space out of sound. Or well, how can architecture influence in the process of composing music?

WHAT HOW

The project aims to exercise its reciprocal potential to create and design by composing music out of architecture and conceptualizing architecture out of music with a proposed system of metrics. The strategy is based in a non-traditional (some would say infamous) way of writing music; the graphic score. By writing music with another set of symbols or even drawings, this form of notation will lead the process towards forming space and architecture. W

WHY STUDY MUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE?

Creativity in the human consciousness comes from the spark through experiencing others´ works . Architects can get inspired by the work of other architects (the most obvious source for many). Or, architects can get that spark by other type of artists from a different genre of art such as a painter, a writer or a performer. But before diving in the deep waters of music and architecture it is illuminating to first dissect and comprehend why music is such a rich source of inspiration for architecture. In essence, this hinges on the fact that music and architecture share a large number of fundamental underlying parallels.

The parallels of architecture and music have been a subject of interest for many architects and composer... but this has also been an amusing topic for many other thinkers and artist through centuries.

“[M]usic is architecture in a fluid state and architecture is frozen music...” -Schlegel

“Music, like architecture, is time and space.”

-Le Corbusier

“A composition is like a house that you can walk around in.”

-John Cage

“It is perfectly true that music and architecture flower from the same stem....My father...taught me to see a great symphony as an edifice, an edifice of sound.”

-Frank Lloyd Wright

“Music and architecture have the common property of putting us inside a sensorial whole different from that we ordinarily live in.”

-Violet Paget

“Music, like architecture, is an immersive experience; it surrounds you. One can turn away from a painting or a work of sculpture, while music and architecture engulf the body in space.”

-Steven Holl

“Music needs to be performed. Architecture needs to be executed. Then its body can come into being. And this body is always sensuous.”

-Peter Zumthor

...This suggests that music and architecture share a strong yet enigmatic connection that is rooted in the deepest most fundamental essences of these two art forms.

THE PROCESS

_Architect sketches, so does the composer

Legend has it that W.A. Mozart composed entire pieces of music within his mind prior to setting a single stroke of ink to paper. In fact, by studying Mozart’s manuscripts, historians have found that this was not the case. Rather, like many composers, he developed excerpts, themes, and energies in his mind, wrote them down, and then used musical notation to work out the rest of the piece (Shaw-Miller, 2006, 38).

Similarly, an architect may construct and visualize initial aspects or schematics of a building in his or her mind, before transferring them to paper, using sketching and graphic notation to work out other elements of the design and the details. In this way, the processes of developing a piece of music and an architectural design through experimental sketching and symbol notation systems are parallel (Zuk, 1983, 4).

THE NOTATION

_Architect sketches, so does the composer

As we develop a piece of music or architecture, we use notation to explore and refine the project. In our tradition, this process will ultimately lead to a completed musical score or a set of construction documents. However, these completed documents do not constitute the work itself. Rather, these completed documents are the intermediary between the architect or composer’s vision, and the actual instancing of the work, which is constituted by the erection of the building or the performing of the piece of music (Shaw-Miller, 2006, 38).

In effect, the notation systems used in the musical score and the construction documents are abstract representations of the work of music or architecture (Zuk, 1983, 4), created as a means to communicate the work to the performer or to the builder, but also as a means to take preliminary impulses and ideas and work them out on paper. Thus, a work of music or architecture does not fully come not fully come into being until it is erected or performed (Holl, 2013).

Sketch by Ludwig von Beethoven Opus 101

Sketch by Frank Ghery Guggenheim Bilbao

But... how/when a work becomes a work?

Although a set of drawings or a score is completed, it does not represent the full identity of such work. It doest exists, but in the sense that it is a response to an impulse that originates from within its creator, so the work exists as soon as it is written out, or arguably, immediately after as the impulse is acted upon. Yet, although it exists before being built or performed, it is not yet accessible to individuals of the world. Thus, the creation of the physical building and the performance of the musical composition is a part of the work in its full identity. In this way, Peter Zumthor describes performance is the “point of delivery” of fullness of the original musical idea (Holl, 2013).

Parallels Between architecture and music _Reciprocal inspiration

1.Rhythm could be considered as the primordial core of music; rhythm keeps things organized. In fact, the reason. Rather than just existing as a continuous steady stream, ryhthm keeps the beats grouped into measurements because the grouping gives rise to a rhythmic hierarchy that creates a certain effect across the notes that are sculpted into the measures. In music, rhythm not only helps keeping things in order, but also defines order. Rhythm can define a character. Or, rhythm can create a structure that, when skillfully broken and distorted, creates expressive and colorful ideas, even before the other elements of music (melody, harmony, form, instrumentation) are introduced. These functions of rhythm are closel related with those in architecture. In architecture, rhythm can be defined by a massing pattern, a fenestration pattern, a structural system. Rhythm can even be defined by the spatial arrangement of rooms, how they repeat, connect, shrink, expand and deviate. It can be expressed by the articulated form of a façade. It can also be expressed by how a building relates to adjacent buildings, or to other elements of its site; streets, paths, benches, trees. In this way, examples of rhythmic frameworks in music may be applied conceptually to architectural schematics in order to generate expressive forms, and also to resolve scenarios where, disparate elements must be reconciled.

11.Melody corresponds to a sequence of notes that navigates up, down, around, and through the timed measures. It mostly based on a short phrase or musical statement/idea, that is then repeated, altered, rearranged, and elaborated. According to Murray, robust melody arises from good proportions, with a nice balance of high and low moments of intensity, a full continuity in sound and space while incorporating variation and emotional impacts (Murray, 1956, 38).

It is the element that is the most easily captured by the human mind. It is the most relatable and the most memorable. In a sense, it is the face of the composition, it is the

immediate defining identity of the work. Melody in music can be equated with the overall identity of a work of architecture. Like a good musical melody, a good architectural melody may also be defined by good proportions, a balance of high and low moments of intensity, and a spatial continuity that incorporates variation and emotional impacts.

111.Harmony is based on associating different notes together, such that the intervals between them produce certain effects that are identifiable by the human ear, and invoke certain colors or moods to the human perception. One of the primary functions of harmony is to support the melody, by bringing it richness and depth. The harmony, in many cases, is the mediator between the melody, melodic progression, and rhythmic underlay. There are two ways to think about harmony in architecture The first one is to think about harmony as the relationships between the various rhythmic elements of a building, and the relationships of these rhythmic elements to the overall effect of the building as a whole. How does a fenestration pattern relate to the overall form of the building? How does the layout of the spaces relate to the overall site? How does the structural pattern relate to the fenestration and to the space layout? How can the space layout pivot the fenestration pattern as it moves across the façade? By looking at specific musical examples, we may apply the same logic that master composers have used for centuries, in order to help arrive at an elegant and authentic architectural solutions. The second way to think about harmony in the context of architecture is how a new addition relates to an existing building or site. Music has an extraordinary amount of insight to offer in this regard, since compositions are comprised of many different musical ideas, textures, scales (sizes), intensities, ranges, instruments, and moods. From abrupt changes all the way to seamless growing and morphing, the musical repertoire exemplifies

myriad types of transitions and relationships. By studying specific precedents in the musical repertoire, we can apply these strategies to architectural works. This leads to study one of the most powerful composition tools for musicians which can totally be applied to architecture, but often ignored by architects. The musical modes:

Ionian mode (M) -Bright, Joyful, Stable

Dorian Mode (m): - Thoughtful, Uncertain, Sophisticated

Phrygian Mode (m): - Exotic, Lively, Dark, Mystic

Lydian Mode (M): - Hopeful, Dreamy, Heavenly, Yearning, Ethereal, Uplifting

Mixolydian Mode (M): - Positive, Rocky, Poppy, Searching

Aeolian Mode (Common minor scale): - Sad, Melancholic, Romantic, Oppressive Locrian Mode (m): - Complex, Unstable, Exotic, Tense

Each one of these modes have a set of notes and the intervals (mathematical proportion) between them create a set of moods a flavors to the listener. So is interesting to question if a building can be dorian? or Casa Sperimentale by Perugini might be locrian?

IV.Instrumentation refers to the set of instruments that are called for in a given composition. For example, the instrumentation for a string quartet is typically two violins, one viola and a violoncello. On the other hand, a piano quartet 17 commonly consists of one piano, one violin, one viola and one violoncello. Comparing these two examples, it is clear that by changing just one instrument, the whole identity of the piece of music changes. For another example, say one of the violins in a string quartet was replaced with a clarinet. Unlike a piano, a clarinet has similar capabilities to a violin. However, by adding the clarinet, the entire character

of the piece will still change because of the timber, or quality of sound of the clarinet, which is much different from the violin. In architecture, the role of instrumentation functions much like the role of materiality. The materials palette defines the final quality of the presence of a building. Say for example, one were to drastically change a material, for example from brick to polycarbonate panels; the complete presence of the project would shift. In this way, we can see that materials and instrumentation are meaningful parallels in the articulation of a piece of music or architecture.

Parallels in Music and Architecture Contribute to Human Perception

As many other art forms, both architecture and musicn contribute in the creation of an immersive sensorial experience and are significant parts of our everyday life. They shape our physical and mental world. Yet, there are certain experiential characteristics that set architecture and music apart from all other art forms. Most prominently, both architecture and music create fully immersive experiences for their receivers (Holl, 2013) Furthermore, even for a most casual receiver, music and architecture have the power to sculpt an atmosphere.

Study Cases

Stretto House_Steven Holl

https://www.stevenholl.com/project/stretto-house/

Inspired by Béla Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. This is an example of a direct adaptation of a musical score into architecture

The musical term stretto is used to describe staggered and overlapping entrances of several voices, each commencing with the same motif. Immediately evident is the spatial translation of stretto in the elevation of this structure:

solid quality of 32 sound from the percussion instruments. This musical arrangement is also clearly and directly translated into the building language, with heavy masonry masses interrupting an elegant flow of curving metal roofs and delicate glass facades (Martin, 1994, 56)

In addition, Bartók orchestrated this piece to create juxtaposition between thelight, flowing, airy timbre of the strings, versus the heavy, grounded,

Elevation and section of Steven Holl’s Stretto House Image from: http://www.stevenholl.com

Sainte-Marie de la Tourette_Xenakis- Le Corbusier

The undulating glass was conceived of and designed by architect and composer Iannis Xenakis (more about Xenakis in section iv) under the supervision of Le Corbusier. The variation in the spacing of the mullions and the sizes of the glass panels creates a rhythmic flow that dances across the façade. This is much akin to the musical strategy of sub-dividing primary beats to arrive at a rhythmic gesture that breaks away from repetition, creating movement and variation. The pentagram bellow shows how Xenaki´s window can be translated into music beats

“[Xenakis] took the spatial and interdisciplinary implications of a modern concept of music - as sound moving through space - to their apex.” (Licht, 2010)

Xenakis’ mathematical calculations, musical compositions, and architectural designs all fed off of each other, and the hyperbolic forms of the Philips Pavilion were actually based off of the mathematics that he used to create one of his most important musical compositions, Metastasis, composed back in 1955.

Something important to highligh here, is that such form is inspired by mathematics and notation, not by acoustical calculations. In any case, the hyperbolic surfaces, combined with the electroacoustic spatiality of the Poème Electronique gave rise to surreal acoustic and sensory experience for visitors.

In addition to this, such form contributes to the visitors´ experience because it alters their perception of what they are experiencing. In other words, the form sculpts the experience because it contributes to the ambiance of the music, sound, light, and image.

MY COMPOSITIONS

Does buildings talk? Can we give architecture a voice of it´s own? Now that the relationship and interaction between music and architecture have been developed I decided to give a step forward and create my first musical composition taking only architecture and its metrics as inspiration. For this experiment I decided to use a widely know gothic church. It´s a perfect starting point in order to explain the concepts analyzed in the previous sections because it´s metrics are very clear but also gives enough information if one wants to get very detailed in the music.

STEP 1

First I identify the main structure, the overall rhythm. In this case the big four pillars that keep all the facade together. I decided to use a kick drum (also a bass or anything with low frequencies under 500hz works well) since it´s a good foundation and helps the listener understand the beat and rhythm of the song. Or, in it´s defect to understand the rhythm and pattern of the facade.

STEP 2

I understand the space between the columns as the compass in a partiture and the columns the end of a compass and the beginning of the next one (4/4). The architectural elements between the columns will give a notion of melody and harmony for the song. The doors of the church will be used as the bass of the song

Going higher in the facade I realize how beautifully proportionate the architecture sits on an partiture of 4/4. Counting 8 statues it fits perfectly as eight notes or corcheas which indicates is time to add a melody with this metric, and so the violins comes. In here something interesting starts to happen. It´s a good musical moment to start thinking about the modes for composition. In here we can start playing the poetics and concept of the building. Gothic architecture is meant to evoque fear, is darkness, tension. Using one of the major modes would be a little bit out of context. Therefore I used superlocrian bb3 in C mode to bring a flavor of eeriness to an architecture that for now seems quite symmetrical and pleasant to the eye.

Locrian: It´s a mode that it´s rarely found in music. Many musicians avoid it since it doesn´t resolve to a home chord or note so it keeps the listener in a tense endless loop. Which is perfect for this case.

STEP 4

Above the statues two windows give the signal for two cello hits as a previous to the main verse.

Reaching to four big openings the guitar plays four notes with a duration of four beats. The guitar was chosen for this section of the song since it works well with atmospherically effects. The reverb with delay gives open unconstrained sound in allusion to this elements of the facade

STEP 6

To conclude the verse and the facade itself. Two big windows crown the facade which are represented with two natural harmonics. Light and transparency are two principles of windows plus the fact of being the highest portion of the facade made me think I should use natural harmonics in order to embody the concept of this windows into sound. Mostly because they are quite high pitched too.

STEP 7

In this step (chorus) something mysterious unveils. The metric is broken. The columns in the top center are 9 which is not a multiple of 4. Mysterious yet quite enriching for the song because in here is where counter tempos and drastic rhythm uses may occur. For this the guitar was also used since the finger picking with the right hand is easier to achieve this measurement of notes.

STEP 8

This is the center of the whole facade. The shape of the circle is always understood as the endless, the eternal. So in order to honor this idea the guitar harmonic goes in a constant endless on/off. Like circle that starts and just when its finished it starts itself again. Over and over again.

Finally, a set of violins comes in following the superlocrian scale but in order to intensify the atmosphere they are been played an octave higher. The juxtaposition, such as in the facade, add a whole new layer of complexity and depth.

CHAPTER CONCLUSION

The reason why I decided to make a hybrid between music and architecture is for the extensive richness of creativity this experiments will spark. Music makes us read buildings in a very different way, perhaps even more intimate. It´s an exercise of disintegrate and integrate architecture in a musical context. This even reveals endless possibilities of how this space or design could change. Through sound, music gives the chance to visualize a deformed version of what a building currently is and inspire other musical and/or architectural creations. What if a graphic collage of several buildings is made in order to create a new one, how would this new polymorphus building will sing different from the original? An example bellow:

Music brings a new layer of complexity and understanding to architecture which can be a very enriching source of inspiration for a composer and the other way around. I like to think that this is a way of making buildings sing. If this exercise is applied to a curated selection of buildings around a city and under the statement that a building can play a song... a city can play an album?

Original Building

Musical composition can be found here... https://youtu.be/8ECwTX2MZ3Q

How this musical composition would sound?

Polyphormism

CH.2

The strategy

GRAPHICAL COMPOSITION

It is imperative to remember that while composing or designing, architecture and musicians uses a language of abstract symbols as a vehicle of notations. This is not the work but a representation of the work. Such notations are extremely important because the nature of such symbols will impact the final outcome of the work.

In other words, a standardized notation likely distrts or contraints the possibilities for artistic expression (Shaw-Miller, 2006,38) It is for this reason that a wave of contemporary composers worked with graphic scores, which allow the composer to use notation in a fully flexible manner, to communicate the artistic impulse, rather than being constrained by the notation (Shaw-Miller, 2006,41)

This form of notation was revolutionary in the evolution of classical music, Nevertheless such form of notation or revolution has not yet occured in architecture. Some Postmodernism artists, thinkers and architects like Pieter Eisenmann did take this queue but this trend has never been fully embraced at the same extents as in music. Some examples are listed ahead

The Magic Circle of Infinity from George Crumb’s Makrokosmos

Cornelius Cardew, Treatise (1963–1967)

John Cage, Fontana Mix (1958)

Cornelius Cardew, Treatise (1963–1967)

Even though these graphic scores were intended to communicate music ideas or guidelines, this series of drawings also express a strong spatial/architectural quality as well. This will be a fundamental link between writing music and designing space in this project.

CH.3

The project

Using the technique of graphic score notation as the way to link architecture and music, the next step consist in designing graphic score based in the composition created in chapter 1. This composition was re written using the same elements that gave life to it. the gothic church of Notre Damme. Each element was given a musical value (same values used to write the musical composition) But this time it was rethinked in order to uncover the new spatial oportunities it can give.

1. Concentric Circles_ Determines de how high or low is the note. The closer to the center the lower in Hz.

2. Determines the rhythm of the song (4/4 in this case). Percussive elements, low hz between 100 - 300

3. Two plucks, low Hz, string instrument. The brightness of the line indicates the notes should have different accents in order to add dynamics. Note// 28 stands for the number of times the bar should be played

4. Melody of eight notes, high bright register, string instrument, staccato

5. Low hz, string instrument, short slide with bow

6. Four plucks, string instrument, down tune five steps below natural. Let four notes ring simultaneously

7. Melody of eight notes, high bright register, string instrument, loop; continuous cascade of notes

8. Natural harmonics at the beginning and the end of the bar. Size and opacity of the icon indicates variation in the intensity of the harmonic.

9. String instrument, down tuned 5 semitones from natural, Notes connected by arches are meant to me played as triplets. 8 notes in total.

10. Percussive, low mid range. Menacing rhythm, strong.

11. Melody of eight notes, high bright register, string instrument, loop; continuous cascade of notes. Evoque chaotic and unstable mood. Overshadow the rest of the instruments. Wall of sound

12. Harmonic loop. Constant fade in fade out. Wave effect.

Whit the graphical score drawn the nex step consisted in creting architecture out of this musical information.

As a first reaction back then this intention made sense. But doing this helped realize this is not where the richness of the exercise is. Doing so was, in a way, sacrificing the potential of the investigation and the strength of music in architecture.

So, the focus went into a deeper dissection of this first graphic score. To take it and give an extra layer of architecture. This, in order to unlock the full potential of design that music can give to architecture.

At first, the approach was thinking about an actual building, a Pavilion perhaps?

Columns_ Tempo, gives rhythm and structure to the composition. It is intended that between each columns music develops, so does the architecture. 200bpm 4/4

Bass_ The two bridges represent two plucks of the bass. One above the other means to give different brightness and intensity to each note. This creates a more natural and dynamic feel to the soundwaves.

Violins_ 8 different statues, 8 different staccato notes. the higher they are in the bridges the higher the pitch of the note. Super Locrian musical scale/mode to create an unstable, mysterious, eerie mood.

Intro Verse Verse outro Pre Chorus

Guitar · Pre chorus_ Four edifications made out of tubular metal, same used in cathedral organs. The shape comes from the reference in the first drawing as well. All four of them stand isolated since they have to be treated as notes on its one instead of a cascade of notes. For this, each note must ring simultaneously. This creates a dense atmosphere of sound.

Pillars_ 8 pillars for 8 tom beats. Works as the foundation of the chorus since this set the rhythm and the intensity of the moment.

Guitar · Chorus_ 5 first edifications connected by bridges indicating the notes should be play in chain not isolated as pre chorus. The last 3 are meant to be played as triplets (8 notes in total).

Gothic cathedrals are known for their rose windows with stained glass. In this case, instead of color milky and see through glass to keep it black and white but still dynamic. The frames are made out of gothic facade ornaments rescaled to uncover a different lecture and use of this elements

Chorus Outro

Gargoyles and Skin wrap_ Wall of sound, massive, meant to overshadow the other layers of instruments... Therefore a massive mesh was used to emulate the indications of the graphic score. Both skins (which are actually gargoyles with malformed meshes but also sticking out of the structure) are connected by a bridgelike structure which is inspired by outlining 9 (not 8) different gargoyles. In order to make a more radical architecture and break the graphical pattern the composition was revisited. The standard musical metric was broken by adding a 9th note which makes everything out of proportion. Delivering an unstable and stressful mood both in the music and the architecture.

Verse outro

Pre chorus

Chorus

Outro

CH.4

Conclusion

To conclude, architecture and music are such powerful and immersive art forms. Architecture is music and music is architecture. In a personal statement, they always coexist at the same time, in different dimensions, but both take absolute possession of the layers of space and time. Both forms of art are so explicit in humankind that we shape them in order to cast that specific mood we are looking for in a determined moment. By applying the filter of music to architecture, a very sensible yet intimate layer of perception appears to the spectator who is experiencing a space or making an analysis of it. But music is richly fed from architecture too. Not only by the large amount of information regarding metrics, structures and more, but can also help to understand and evoque that emotional touch that the composer is looking for.

Professors_Mira Sanders · Riet Eeckhout