Musical manifestation : Between Space and Sound

Our environment is formed with the effects of physical, social and cultural factors. One of the manifestations about this formation is our architectural setting at the cross section of art, science and technology. Scientific and technological developments are resulted with the advanced construction techniques, improved design strategies and representation methods. On the other hand, these changes, which are under the impacts of modern movement, also raised the triumph of eye over ear. Visibility and visual perception become the first and utmost concern for the contemporary architects, though sound and its effects fade in the realm of architecture. However, perception of spaces and understanding of architecture cannot be restricted merely with the features of visual perception. The trace of sound, and especially music, can feed into visual and physical aspects of architecture.
Architecture having complicated characteristics can be said to have roots in various concepts while always being mentioned as a field of art. Hence architects via creativity are able to have more productive forms by utilising different facilities. This is the reason why architecture and several types of art are interrelated completely. Music is one of those art forms that has certain impacts on architecture.
Music moves us, brings us to an ethereal world that is captured in our memories. It construes a space that is embedded in people’s consciousness and becomes a haven from the troubles outside of it. Its form is the expression of an idea, born through the manipulations of its composer. This phenomenon of constructed space is a connecting aspect between music and architecture. While architecture and music are different in materiality, they both define a type of space that is organised and structured accordingly. Having a background in music performance and theory I've noticed that Music has inspired architecture in many different ways , whether indirectly influencing how a project is approached by an architect or more obviously influence the final form of the building. Our region has myriad communities and music styles and many communities and individuals face difficulties to get the right exposure to develop and showcase their talents and perform the various forms of music. In this era of urbanisation , a place where communities gather to perform and meet is an integral part to enhance the cultural significance in the lives of people. Pondicherry being a multi cultural place lacks such an entity.
This place will be conceived as a house of music open to the community, a public place where people can meet and interact. It will act as a hub contributing to the performing music within the region as well as for the students of the school. This will provide a space for composers and musicians a setting in which they can flourish and a place where they are given mentoring and other resources essential to create and share.The spaces open to the public will include theatres, concert halls, display area, cafe. School of music for prospective students and residences for those. There will be certain spaces like studios, labs, practice rooms, cafes available only for the students. Different instruments have different acoustical needs( materials and geometry) will be addressed in this. The spaces will be spread out volume and yet connected through reverberations of voice and music. The relationships between music and architecture will be incorporated in the design ( rhythm, syncopation, melodies ) for massing, circulation and spatial arrangement.
Perception of spaces can be related to understanding of music. First, we can experience space in music metaphorically, when music evokes or suggests spatial images and metaphors involving abstract concepts or perceptual experiences which are not necessarily related to the spatial properties of sound sources. We are inclined to describe this kind of experience by metaphorically applying spatial concepts to aspects of a musical composition like rhythm, harmony, melody, time, texture and morphological traits. For example, we can experience different pitches in a melody or chords in a harmony as ascending or descending. We can seem to hear the distance between different elements which constitute the rhythmic structure of musical compositions. A second kind of spatial experience we can have when listening to music is the experience of physical space, which occurs when we acquire spatial information concerning the sources of sound. We can hear things about the spatial region where a musical performance is taking place and the relative distance between various sound sources in this performance ( eg. singers and instruments) and us. This spatial information isn't just practically useful for locating sound sources; it can also underscore aesthetics. Different levels of perception are related with music intervals, beats, rhythmic patterns. Static perception related with the perception of chords and dynamic perception related with perception of musical phrases.
The focus of this project is to use music as a catalyst for architectural design by proposing a framework for the implementation of musical elements in the process of design. In simple words, it is to use techniques found in music composition and to implement them into architectural composition. I focused on human connectedness, showing how perception of spaces affects human experience, while drawing the similarities between music and architecture, highlighting architectural principles like rhythm, scale, proportion and emotional interpretations.This is done by deconstructing the two disciplines into basic elements and mapping their respective parts to each other. It will be done in three sequential levels of investigation: historical and musical research, to discover the basic elements and their compositional arrangement; development of a methodology, which will connect the two disciplines; and building representation on a specific site. The impetus of this project is to both examine and enhance the convergence that occurs between music in architecture as an investigation into the merging and furthering the parallel found in the two forms of art.
Studying compositional principles of a specific musical form sets up a framework to create strategies to fuse musical principles with physical form. This framework is a tool to “compose” architecture. Whether it is apparent or not, music and architecture are both composed, and are shaped through rules that lend each a sense of structure and organisation. While there are many material differences between architecture and music, both are intentionally formed, and have a structure. In an article for the Musical Times, L.N. Higgins writes on the discussion regarding music and architecture, saying that: “Both the building and the music are only different manifestations of the same principle-the principle of man’s supreme gift of creating form.”
The design is based on the music concept of staff the free horizontal lines defining the pitch ( elevation) combined with dynamics ( zoning) and bar/bar lines ( creating subtle open and airy spaces). The elements that make up this design are as follows: The staff or the stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces each representing a different musical pitch. In this design, staff will be interpreted as the varying levels in the structure. A bar line is a line that specifies the boundaries of a segment. A bar is segment of time corresponding to a specific time signature in music. This will be translated into interconnecting open spaces in the project. Different musical notes denoting specific sounds and the musical dynamics that changing from very soft to very loud gradually will be expressed as connectivity and spatial experience in the project. Each of the spaces in the project has a varying degree of intimacy, thereby creating a mix of more public or private spaces and facilitating a unified mixed use. All these together will create a rhythmic flowing the design. The concept is carried out in the materials used and the lighting as well.
The concept is carried out in the materials used and the lighting as well. Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) is chosen as ideal cladding material. The lighting design strategy differentiates the day and night reading of the building. During the day the building's volume reflects light constantly altering the centre's appearance depending upon the time of the day and perspective. The use of semi-reflective glass gives tantalising glimpses within arousing curiosity without revealing what is inside. At night this character is gradually transformed by means of lighting that washes from the interior onto the exterior surfaces unfolding the formal composition to reveal its content and maintaining the fluidity between the interior and exterior.

Location : Pondicherry
Typology : Proposal for institutional ,cultural and leisure facilities
Site Area : 6.5 Acres
Built-up : 25, 000 Sq.m