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architects design music
“Research into the fabrication of sound waves into visual patterns in order to allow visitors to inhabit sound, visually” The Architects were hired by a public client to design a new Community Center adjacent to Ground Zero. The public face of the building is a 550-foot long glass wall, facing West Street. The Architects collaborated with a New York City Composer, who they hired to write a ‘BirdSong’ composition to go on the glass façade as a frit pattern. The Architects chose the BirdSong as an appropriate image for a building designed with a Platinum LEED certification. Birds as a species have been severely affected by the effects of pollution. The frit pattern on the glass commemorates birds, and also makes the glass more visible to prevent birds from flying into the surface. The experience of walking past the glass façade puts Visitors to the site within the BirdSong, virtually.
BirdSong went through several iterations before the reaching the final design. The submission includes images of the final version of the BirdSong. The Clients have hired a glass company who are producing a 13’ x 3’ full-scale mock up of the final design.
The idea of placing the BirdSong on the façade was to immerse Visitors to the building in the BirdSong, as they walked from South to North, in an arc pointing toward Ground Zero. The walk in front of the building was designed to link to sidewalk connections crossing West Street. The glass façade will have three openings, where the BirdSong will be audible. CD’s of the BirdSong will be available after the opening of the building.
The innovative aspect of the research is the act of collaborating with a sound artist to produce a visual artifact. The interpretive process took many iterations as the Clients had several parameters for the design. In addition to requiring the design to clearly demonstrate the BirdSong composition, the Architects also needed to identify a frit pattern that was not disorienting when viewing from inside the Community Center. The pattern also acts as a solar screen, preventing solar heat gain and provides a point toward the LEED certificate.
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