There is Music in Every Building | Tom McGlynn | TEDxCambridgeUniversity
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the profound connection between architecture and music, highlighting the parallels in their compositional elements and creative processes. The speaker, an architect and music enthusiast, delves into how both disciplines share terminology and can be experienced similarly through rhythm, harmony, and texture. The concept of 'frozen music' is discussed, and the script culminates in a unique experiment where a building's facade is translated into a piece of electronic music, demonstrating the tangible and intangible interplay between the built environment and sound.
Takeaways
- 🎼 The speaker is an architect who deeply intertwines their love for music with their profession, finding parallels between the two creative fields.
- 🏛 The concept of 'frozen music' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is introduced, suggesting that architecture is a solidified form of sound.
- 🎶 The script discusses the shared language between architecture and music, with terms like 'rhythm', 'dynamic', 'harmony', 'texture', and 'composition' being used in both fields.
- 🏢 Architectural components such as columns and windows create visual rhythms, while music uses sound to create auditory rhythms.
- 🎹 The choice of materials in architecture and instruments in music both contribute to the texture and overall composition.
- 📐 Architectural drawings and musical scores serve as instructions for the construction of buildings and the performance of music, respectively.
- 🏗️ The process of building a structure is compared to an orchestra performing music, with each element contributing to the final composition.
- 🎵 The speaker's brother, a music producer, collaborated with them to translate the facade of a building into a piece of electronic music, demonstrating a direct correlation between architectural design and musical composition.
- 🏛️ The script suggests that different architectural styles may correspond to different genres of music, such as punk for chaotic compositions or free jazz for fluid, non-standardized forms.
- 💻 The impact of technology on both architecture and music is highlighted, with computer-aided design and electronic music composition being prominent in contemporary practices.
- 🎼 The speaker encourages the audience to use their imagination to 'hear' the music of architecture, proposing that the built environment can be experienced as a symphony of visual and auditory elements.
Q & A
What is the relationship between architecture and music according to the speaker?
-The speaker believes that the relationship between architecture and music goes beyond coexistence. They see music in every building and suggest that with a little imagination, one can experience the music inherent in architecture.
How does the speaker describe the concept of 'rhythm' in architecture?
-In architecture, 'rhythm' is described as visual and refers to repeating patterns such as rows of columns or the arrangement of windows.
What is 'dynamic architecture' and how does it relate to music?
-Dynamic architecture involves changes and variations, like a façade that steps in and out or up and down along its length. This can be likened to the dynamics in music, which involves changes in volume and intensity.
How does the speaker connect the concept of 'harmony' in music to architecture?
-The speaker connects 'harmony' by stating that a building can demonstrate harmony if there is similarity in the design of different building components or if different building materials complement each other.
What is the term that the speaker identifies as crucial for both architecture and music composition?
-The speaker identifies 'composition' as the crucial term for both architecture and music. It refers to the planned arrangement of parts to form a whole, whether it's the arrangement of building components in space or the arrangement of sound in time.
How does the choice of materials in architecture relate to the choice of instruments in music?
-The choice of materials in architecture gives buildings texture and form, similar to how the choice or range of instruments and sounds available to a composer gives music its unique texture and form.
What does Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous quote 'architecture is frozen music' suggest according to the speaker?
-Goethe's quote suggests that architecture can be seen as a solidification of sound, giving physical presence to what would otherwise be an aural experience.
How does the speaker attempt to translate the visual components of a building into music?
-The speaker and their brother, an electronic music producer, worked together to create a musical representation of a building's façade. They considered each bay of the façade as a bar in the music, translating the structure and variations into different layers of rhythm and melody.
What does the speaker suggest when they say that a building built by hand is a 'performance' of the architectural design?
-The speaker suggests that the construction of a building involves human interpretation, errors, and imperfections, much like a live music performance, which can add unique qualities to the final outcome.
How does the speaker encourage individuals to experience architecture and music?
-The speaker encourages individuals to use their imagination to experience the music of architecture by looking at buildings, reading the facades, and finding the underlying rhythms, melodies, and harmony, thus enriching their experience of the built environment.
What is the speaker's final analogy for the relationship between a building, a street, and a city in terms of music?
-The speaker's final analogy is that if an individual building can be translated to a song, then a street is like an album and a city is akin to a full record collection.
Outlines
🎼 The Harmonious Union of Architecture and Music
The speaker, an architect and music enthusiast, explores the profound connection between architecture and music, emphasizing that they are more than just coexisting interests. They draw parallels between the two fields, highlighting shared terminology such as rhythm, dynamics, harmony, texture, and composition. The speaker suggests that every building has an inherent musicality, and with imagination, one can 'hear' the architecture. They discuss the idea of translating the visual and spatial elements of buildings into aural and temporal components of music, referencing Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's notion of 'frozen music.' The speaker also contemplates the differences between classical and modern architecture and their respective musical counterparts, suggesting a loss of musical alignment in contemporary architecture due to the stripping away of ornamental elements.
🏛 Translating Architectural Forms into Musical Compositions
This paragraph delves into the idea of matching contemporary architecture with modern music genres, proposing that buildings like the Hayward Gallery could be likened to punk, the Pompidou Center to techno, and the Guggenheim to free jazz. The speaker reflects on how architecture and music have evolved together, influenced by societal factors, and how the advent of computers has impacted both fields, leading to a prevalence of electronic music and computer-aided design. The speaker's personal experiment in translating the facade of a building into music is described, with each architectural element represented by a musical component, creating a rhythmic and harmonic piece that mirrors the building's design. The process illustrates the potential for a direct sensory translation between the visual structure of a building and an auditory experience.
🎹 The Limitations and Potential of Architectural Musical Interpretation
The speaker acknowledges the limitations of translating three-dimensional architectural designs into two-dimensional representations, both in architectural drawings and in music software. They discuss the nuances of experiencing a building or a piece of music firsthand, which cannot be fully captured in simplified diagrams or readouts. The speaker also considers the role of human interpretation and imperfection in the construction of a building, likening it to a live music performance rather than a computer-generated score. They encourage the audience to use their imagination to experience the 'music of architecture,' suggesting that personal interpretations will vary and that the built environment can be enriched by this sensory crossover. The speaker concludes by likening individual buildings to songs, streets to albums, and cities to a collection of records, inviting the audience to engage with their surroundings in a new, musical way.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Architecture
💡Music Lover
💡Coexistence
💡Rhythm
💡Dynamic Architecture
💡Harmony
💡Composition
💡Materials
💡Orchestration
💡Electronic Music
💡Translation
Highlights
Architecture and music have a deep relationship beyond mere coexistence, with the potential to experience music in every building.
Shared terminology between architecture and music, such as rhythm, dynamic, harmony, and composition, indicates a parallel in their structures.
Rhythm in architecture is visual and involves repeating patterns like columns or window arrangements.
Dynamic architecture is characterized by changes and variations, like facades that step in and out.
Harmony in buildings is achieved through the similarity in design of different components or materials.
Building materials contribute to a building's texture, similar to how instruments contribute to musical texture.
Architectural and musical compositions are both planned arrangements of parts to form a cohesive whole.
Architectural drawings and musical scores serve as instructions for constructing buildings and performing music.
The idea of translating the visual, physical components of architecture to the aural components of music is explored.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous quote 'architecture is frozen music' is discussed in the context of architecture's musicality.
Modern architectural styles like hi-tech Brutalism and minimalism may not align as intuitively with historic music.
The technological revolution and the rise of electronic music have influenced both architecture and music composition.
The process of designing buildings is likened to composing music, with careful consideration of harmony and interaction between components.
A collaborative project between the speaker and his brother translates the facade of a building into a piece of electronic music.
The translation process considers the facade's rhythm, structure, and variations, mirroring them in the musical composition.
The limitations of two-dimensional representations in capturing the full experience of architecture and music are acknowledged.
The speaker encourages individuals to use their imagination to experience the music of architecture, enriching their perception of the built environment.
The concept of a city as a full record collection, with streets as albums and buildings as songs, is introduced as a way to appreciate urban environments.
Transcripts
I am an architect and a music lover
architecture is my profession and I'm
lucky enough to enjoy a passion for it
well as a bedroom DJ and record
collector music is my hobby in my life
there are many opportunities for the two
to co-exist I design buildings with
music on in the background I walk around
cities looking at buildings with
headphones on but I believe the
relationship between architecture and
music is way beyond coexistence for me
there is music in every building and
with a little imagination we all have
the potential to experience it there are
many parallels between architecture and
music both have their specialist
language but it's striking how many of
these terms are shared if we look at a
list of the elements of music we can see
that many of these terms are regularly
used to describe architecture rhythm in
architecture is visual and describes
repeating patterns such as rows of
columns or the arrangement of windows
dynamic architecture involves changes
and variations a facade that steps in
and out or up and down along its length
for example a building can demonstrate
harmony if there is similarity in the
design of different building components
or different building materials sit well
together building materials give
buildings texture and form primarily
describes a building's shape but the
crucial share term is composition
meaning the planned arrangement of parts
to form a whole architectural
composition is the arrangement of
building components in space sense with
our eyes musical composition is the
arrangement of sound
time sense with our ears architectural
composition is given its distinctive
character or quality through choice of
materials timber glass brick and so on
and the musical equivalent is the choice
or the range of instruments and sounds
available to a composer strings
percussion brass and so on both
compositions are dreamed up in the
creators head and put to paper as a set
of instructions for others to execute
architectural drawings instruct builders
on how to construct a particular
building while a musical score instructs
musicians on the performance of a
particular piece picture at the busy
building site with all the builders
holding drawings for their specialist
trade each working away on the different
parts of the building to create the
whole now picture the orchestra and all
the musicians with their sheet music
each playing their part in combination
to perform the overall piece of music as
we have seen parallels can be drawn
between architecture and music but the
fundamental difference is that one is
visual set in space and one is aural set
in time so can we translate the visual
physical spatial components of
architecture to the aural intangible
time-based components of music can we
look at a building and hear it sounds
the late 18th century German writer
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said famously
architecture is frozen music this
suggests solidifying giving physical
presence the sounds in his time the
predominant architectural style was
Baroque and Gothic architecture came
before the significant buildings from
these areas were palaces cathedrals and
churches with their elaborate sculptural
stained forms both internally and
externally still today they represent
some of the most
compelling examples of musical
expression inbuilt form I don't know a
lot about classical music but loosely
speaking I am able to align its
orchestration and melodies with ornament
craft organic sculptural form if we
strip away these aspects from
architecture as the modern movement did
in the early 20th century and more
recently hi-tech Brutalism and
minimalism
I feel intuitively less able to align
contemporary architecture and buildings
with historic music if we think of the
classical buildings of the past in terms
of the classical music of the past what
might be the appropriate music for today
to draw parallels with contemporary
architecture thinking of well-known
buildings we might say that the south
banks Hayward gallery with its chaotic
composition of concrete forms and its
spiky pyramidal roof lights would be
punk
the Pompidou Center in Paris with its
repetitive steel frame exposed
factory-like services and pipework and
these futuristic tubular walkways and
escalators would be tech name and the
Guggenheim in Bilbao with its
free-flowing forms that interweave or
collide with one another and its lack of
standardized rhythm must be a kind of
improvised free jazz over the ages the
style of architecture and music has been
influenced by external factors such as
politics war fashion what about today we
are in a technological revolution with
computers at the heart of everything
the primary instrumental music is
electronic there are many forms house
techno dubstep drum and bass even most
pop music today is electronic with the
introduction of computers as a
compositional tool over the last few
decades I think it is more apparent than
ever that both contemporary architecture
music involve the organized now
computer-aided repetition of a series of
components think of the repetitive
facades of new office blocks and then
think of the repetitive beats of the
latest electro pop chart-topper we
design buildings in a similar manner to
the composition of music the starting
point can vary but ultimately the
finished piece consists of a series of
components the arrangement of components
into a series of layers held together by
the overarching rhythm or structure both
composer and architect must carefully
consider the harmony between these
layers how they interact do they
complement one another or is there a
conscious jarring for dramatic effect do
they sit in line with the rhythm or do
they break the mold is it a consistent
repetitive flow or are their acts
variations changes that create moments
of interest so if both architecture and
music are compositions with rhythm and
harmony at their call
can we look upon a building and imagine
its visual components as sounds
translating it to music I think we can
but I wanted to put this to the test
this is the facade of a building for
Jesus College in Cambridge that I helped
to design my brother is an electronic
music producer and we agreed to work
together on a musical representation of
this facade it lends itself well to the
test because there is a well-defined
order and clear rhythm to the visual
composition we've considered each bay of
the facade as a bar in the music the
primary structure in this building is
set out as brick piers these are
repetitive and set at regular intervals
establishing the beat as the core
framework for the rhythm of this facade
at the base of the building the space
between the brick piers is subdivided
into eight this introduces another layer
of rhythm that we've translated to a
drum pattern here my brother imagined
walking past the building running a
stick along the stone fins as you go on
[Music]
the next layer the bays are split into
four and we've added another layer of
rhythm a sequence of four piano chords
that set the groove and reinforce the
metre of the composition
[Music]
on the floor above the bays are split
into two and here we introduce our first
layer of melody - elongated undulating
chords giving a harmonic warmth to the
piece and the top floor the bays are
also split into two here the balconies
are open to the sky and so the sound is
high-pitched and allowed to rise up we
opted for a vocal sample to represent
this so now the only thing missing are
the foundations and I think these are
best represented in music through the
base foundations are set out support the
structure above in the same way that a
bassline supports the rhythm in music
when we add all these elements together
we can hear the eight bars of the music
tracking across the eight Bay's of the
facade
[Music]
where the facade design is repetitive
the musical composition is repetitive
and where there's variation in the
facade there is variation in the music
with some simplification and minor
tweaking the color-coded architectural
drawings and the readout from the music
creation software begin to resemble one
another but these simplified
two-dimensional representations fail to
describe the nuances of the compositions
that you would experience by visiting
the building or listening to the music
the drawings miss the three-dimensional
qualities of this facade the depth the
recessed and protruding elements the
play of light and shadow
the colored blocks in the music readout
failed to visually describe the dynamics
of the music the modulated sounds the EQ
the frequencies and filters but these
aspects are key to the drama of the
compositions we could have gone further
in terms of translating architectural
components to sounds I think that
different forms and different materials
would elicit different sounds for
example the brick columns in our facade
that we saw earlier to my mind would
sound very different to any of the
columns in these images but the
composition for today was intended to be
diagrammatic the electronic score
resembles the drawings but what about
the actual physical building electronic
music is generally composed on computers
it is these computers that perform the
finished piece creating the final
recording while the drawings are
produced in the perfect world of
computers the physical finished building
in fact involves human interpretation
errors and imperfections essentially a
building built by hand is really a
performance of the architectural design
therefore perhaps it would have been
better translated to a live music
performance think again of the
similarities between the orchestra and
the busy building site so what role do
you play in all of this well with a
little imagination
I believe you can all experience the
music of architecture both are
subjective each of you will have your
own musical interpretations of any
building
I'm sure the buildings that look that
you find attractive will sound good in
your head
and those you don't won't imagine
walking down a street as a passerby we
can catch a glimpse of the building and
hear a snippet of its song or we can
stand back taking the full facade unpick
its structure materials layers and here
the full symphony hopefully this will
enrich your experience of the built
environment and if an individual
building can be translated to a song
perhaps a street is like an album and a
city a full record collection so next
time you walk around a city or visit a
building take a moment to look at the
architecture read the facades find the
underlying rhythms melodies and harmony
and enjoy imagining each building song
play out in your head
you
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