Luke Hayes
We just received
Zaha Hadid Architects’ latest project for the Manchester International Festival. ZHA has created a
chamber music hall
for solo performances of Johann Sebastian Bach’s chamber
music masterpieces. The project’s form, a suspended ribbon of
translucent lightweight synthetic fabric (150 g/m2) articulated by an
internal steel structure, translates the intricate relationships of
Bach’s harmonies into an architectural spatial condition. Festival
Director Alex Poots exclaimed, “
Zaha Hadid Architects
consistently come up with challenging and innovative ideas. It has been
wonderful to see the realisation of this project and experience such
intimate performances from the leading concert musicians within it.”
Further description about ZHA’s Music Hall and more images after the break.
Zaha Hadid Architects
The design of the music hall ”enhances the multiplicity of Bach’s
work through a coherent integration of formal and structural logic. A
single continuous ribbon of fabric swirls around itself, creating
layered spaces to cocoon the performers and audience with in an intimate
fluid space,” explained Hadid. The ribbon wraps around the stage, the
audience and itself, creating different layered conditions by
“alternately compressing to the size of a handrail then stretching to
enclose the full height of the room.”
Luke Hayes
The undulating surface of the fabric shell in a “constant yet
changing rhythm” creates a “soft billowing effect”. When the hall is
not in use, programmed lighting and a series of dispersed musical
recordings will activate the spaces between the ribbon.
In addition to the strong architectural ideas, the music hall must
provide clear acoustics for those viewing the concert. “The challenge of
the project was to take a gallery space primarily designed for visual
art and help Zaha Hadid Architects in their vision to convert it into a
modern extraordinary new performance space for chamber music,” explained
Mark Howarth, a partner of
Sandy Brown Associates.
Luke Hayes
“For optimum conditions for chamber music it is important to ensure
that the reverberation time is not too long as this blurs individual
notes so music can lose its intricacy. Equally it should not be too
short as this provides a lack of response for the performer and causes
the music to sound overly dry,” explained Howarth. If ZHA added too
much additional sound absorptive material, the sound would loose a lot
of its quality. Thus, a variety of materials were investigated, such as
different fabrics, metals and plastics, to ensure that the
architectural elements would not take away from the musical experience.
Tony Hogg Design and Base Structures
ZHA and Sandy Brown Associates worked together to perfect
the acoustics using CAD models that were imported into acoustic
modelling software that tested the different finishes and shapes of the
curving form. Through this collaboration, ZHA’s curving ribbon creates
both a strong architectural statement and a great acoustic environment
as the form helps scatter the sound reflections to eliminate flutter
echoes and enhance the acoustic experience of the concert.
Images courtesy of Tony Hogg Design and Base Structures, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Luke Hayes. All images are copyright.
For further information on all performances and events the Manchester International Festival please visit
www.mif.co.u
Luke Hayes
Luke Hayes
Luke Hayes
Zaha Hadid Architects
Zaha Hadid Architects
