Le Métaphone

Le Métaphone (FR)


LOCATION:
Oignies (FR)

ARCHITECT:
Hérault Arnold Arquitectes

SCENOGRAPHER::
Ducks Sceno

MODEL:
Tip & Telescopic Tribune

MORE INFO:
www.herault-arnod.fr  (architect)

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In the traditional sense, built environments offer shelter and act as transmitters of culture. Thanks to new technologies and materials, buildings are now becoming interactive spaces, capable of adapting to users’ needs or whims quicker than ever. Playing with the idea of creating a building that doubles as a very large musical instrument, Herault Arnod Architectes of France constructed the Metaphone, which they envision as “a building to be looked at and listened to,” thanks to special acoustical materials which form the building’s skin.

It was all part of a bigger plan to bring some life back to the tiny town of Oignies, which relied on coal mining for over 150 years to sustain the economy. The town basically collapsed when the mine was no longer operating. The buildings on the old coal mine also include office space and housing, and since the concert hall opened, people have started coming for shows.

Inside the Metaphone, there’s a concert hall. But the outside of the building is what makes it interesting: A steel frame holds a series of plates, made from wood, metal, and glass, that all transmit sound. Just inside the frame, 24 instruments, from drums to an organ, are connected to the building walls. As musicians play, so does the building.

To create the sound-related and instrumental features of the building, the architects consulted musician and sound designer Louis Dandrel. The majority of the Metaphone building (the technical spaces and auditorium) are contained within a volume of black concrete. This base structure is covered with a steel envelope scaled with different materials such as frosted glass, corten steel and wood. This translucent skin protrudes out of the main concrete structure into an open air porch that disseminates music outwards to the front of the building. Various materials make up the different instrumental elements whose acoustic properties produce distinct musical sounds. Vibrating plates and panels connected to the outer shell use a series of cables to connect to the central control cabin. Even the photovoltaic panels on the roof share space with integrated instrumental acoustic elements that help project sound.

Certainly a music lover’s dream, the Metaphone Music Hall takes dedication to music to a whole new level by combining musical forms with interactive architecture. Along with enough space for an audience of 500 to 1,000 in the modular auditorium found on the inside with our TIP chair (extraordinary combination of red fabric & wood in a telescopic tribune by Hugon Tribunes), the open porch offers ample space for a large orchestra.

 

 

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