Architecture is organised light

Goethe once wrote: “architecture is frozen music”. For us this didn’t feel right. Architecture is not frozen or static, it’s dynamic, you enter a building, move through a building, the sun(light) and shadows change constantly. Even the building could be moving by simply opening a window or door. Therefore we believe architecture is music. Music is in the most broad definition organised sound. We believe that architecture is in that same broad sense organised light. Music has – like architecture – proportion, composition and structure. Architecture needs – like music – rhythm, melody and soul.

Music becomes real music when it touches you, when it reaches an inner level of unconsciousness. We believe architecture becomes real architecture when it touches you in that same sense.

Recording Studio

From the beginning it was clear this project was about the coming together of the two arts; Music and Architecture.  At an early stage the conversations were about trying to find links between the two arts and to learn from each other. This became our starting point or concept for the design, to resemble the music in architecture.

Early on during the project we talked about atmospheres and how to deal with certain problems or challenges of a recording studio and the existing building itself mostly being sound insulation and dealing with having little natural light. The requirements and techniques for sound insulation are quite complex resulting in complex details. We wanted to hide the complexity and create a studio which feels like a home and therefore concealed all the services and made the complex details look very simple and minimal . We approached the problem of getting little natural by playing with contrast in light and to make the artificial light feel more natural by making it indirect. We also searched for materials which reflect or absorb light in a more atmospheric way like rough plaster and vilt finishes in the music rooms. A rhythmic timber slatted ceiling is used for the hallway which conceals the services. Next to that timber is used for the kitchen resembling music instruments and giving the space a warm feeling. Old characteristics of the existing building were reused like the alcove which is being used as a display for art. The windows of the main recording studio look into the entrance hall with the alcove. The

The design of the floorplan was a puzzle since the rooms need to have a certain ratio, a certain length, width and height of the room for the best music performance. The ratio relation between music and space shows a deep relation between music and architecture. So finding the right ratios were the starting point for the layout. The whole studio consists of  2 production rooms, a recording studio, a live room, storage for music equipment, a kitchen and a bathroom. The hallway functions as the connector between the spaces but also as a sound lock.

The entrance of the space is a seperate –  in between space – for acoustic insulation (as a first sound lock) reasons but also functioning as a transition in space from the outside world into the music world symbolized and emphasized by a rhythmic oak threshold. The space itself is filled with plants which make you immediately feel at home.