JS Bach, Chamber Music Hall

Zaha Hadid Architects have designed a unique chamber music hall specially tailored to the performance of the exquisite music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

A voluminous ribbon creates a vortex in the room, providing a spatial and visual response to the complex interrelationships of Bach's theory of harmony. The ribbon forms a loop above the virtuoso, cascades fall to the floor - enveloping the audience. The original, box-like space is divided into flowing, arching spaces that merge and slide into one another.

The design enhances the diversity of Bach's work through a coherent integration of formal and structural logic. A single continuous ribbon of fabric wraps around itself. In doing so, it creates graduated levels and ensnares performers and audience in an intimate, flowing', is how Zaha Hadid herself describes her work.

The realization of the construction required architectural considerations of scale, structure and acoustics to develop a dynamic formal dialogue, inextricably linked to the purpose of an intimate chamber music hall. An overlapping of spaces and functions is achieved by the ribbon intertwining with itself, alternately compressing to the size of a handrail, then expanding to encompass the full height of the space. Circuits and visual connections continue to reveal themselves as one moves through the various layers of space delineated by the ribbon.

The band itself consists of a translucent fabric membrane, fanned out by an internal steel structure suspended from the ceiling. The surface of the fabric shell moves in waves in a constant but changing rhythm, namely in the way it is stretched over the internal framework. It varies between the enormously taut skin, the outside of the ribbon, and the soft undulating effect of the same fabric on the inside of the loop. Transparent acrylic acoustic panels, visually barely perceptible in the fabric membrane, were suspended above the stage to reflect and diffuse the sound. Programmed lighting and a series of sound recordings activate the spaces between the loop in the performance free time. The installation was designed to be transported and reassembled in other similar locations.

The behavior of the band is decisive for its function. It was designed to simultaneously enhance acoustic impressions while spatially defining a stage, a familiar enclosure with aisles. It defines a perimeter in which it is perceived as both a floating object in space and a temporary architecture that invites people to enter, inhabit and explore it. Festival Director Alex Poots explains: "Zaha Hadid Architects consistently come up with challenging and innovative ideas. It has been wonderful to witness the realization of this project and the experience of these intimate performances by leading concert musicians here."

The London architect chose the Panton Chair as the second main actor. Set up in the color black, the ergonomically shaped seating furniture by Verner Panton offered visitors a particularly comfortable stay. In addition, the Panton Chairs blended elegantly and visually into the overall concept. At the same time, the black chairs a visual counterpoint to the white swirl. In Zaha Hadid Studio, her office, the visionary has long relied on the Panton Chair as her office chair.