The Philharmonie, Luxembourg.
11th December 2021
A new world is emerging from the COVID-19 crisis and many questions are still being asked about what this will look like. Questions such as, should it be mandatory to show a COVID passport when going into music venues and concert halls?
These questions about concert halls and the future of the music industry got us thinking about how these magnificent buildings are designed. It’s quite possible that the future of the design of these halls will be dictated by the new considerations and rules in place because of the pandemic, so this week we wanted to focus on and celebrate designing for the music and acoustics that these great halls house.
For our most recent CPD we therefore decided to learn about The Philharmonie, a concert hall in Luxembourg, designed by Architect Christian de Portzamparc. The concert hall opened in 2005 after a decade of planning following the cities nomination as the European Capital of culture, and prior to the global pandemic it played host to 400 performances each year.
The venue itself is a large open structure supported by columns, with a raised path in the interior wrapping around a shoe box shaped concert hall inside.
There are over 820 structural and non structural columns around the perimeter of the structure, positioned both on the exterior and interior. The columns are arranged to create different experiences whilst walking around, they are thoughtfully arranged to give you different densities, shaping the view of the interior and exterior, controlling the allowance of light, and only open up for the entrance and chamber music hall. This design and method of functioning is very typically found throughout Christian de Portzamparc's cultural buildings, which create environments wherein the interior and exterior spaces interpenetrate, working as catalysts in cityscape dynamics.
The Grand Auditorium is situated inside of the main structure and is designed in a regular “shoe box” looking from the exterior, but internally it has irregular proportions of orchestra, stalls, seating and roof design to help create the perfect environment for the acoustics. “The ceiling and hall are like an instrument itself to suit different type of performances” with the ability to change the roof panels, curtains and acoustic deflectors to adapt to different sonic needs.
The Philharmonie was thoughtfully designed and constructed to celebrate music, and to give it’s audiences a memorable and near perfect experience. We believe that art form and experience should continue to dictate the brief of the design of concert halls, even if a new world order necessitates the inclusion of design considerations for covid passports.
