Tension Instrument Concert Hall by Lihan Jin is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Golden A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Competition Category.
GoldArchitecture· 2023
Tension Instrument Concert Hall
by Lihan Jin
Client: Studio Lihan
Golden A' Design Award Winner in Architecture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #147106The Design
About Tension Instrument Concert Hall
The project is based on the study of architecture and music. The design focuses on how to take inspiration from intangible music and present it in tangible architectural space. The design ultimately combines the two through "tension", a force that is prevalent in both architecture and music. The concert hall is an orchestration of walls, balconies, and acoustic panels, which are developed from a unique architectural prototype by different scales and tectonics. The dramatic contrast of old and new creates a new cultural landmark for Prague.
The Recognition
About the Golden A' Design Award
Tension Instrument Concert Hall is a Golden A' Design Award winner, an immensely prestigious recognition granted to first-rate, marvelous, and outstanding designs. Golden winners are exceedingly innovative, visionary, and glamorously dazzling creations that reflect the prodigy, wisdom, and prowess of their designers. Tension Instrument Concert Hall is expected to be a highly praised, trendsetting, and monumental invention that delivers unprecedented value. This Golden A' Design Award-winning design is a spectacular, respected project that highly benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Tension Instrument Concert Hall creates intense feelings of desire, evokes passion, encourages creativity, and fascinates us.
Where to Get It
Architectural Design Services for Cultural Spaces
We create innovative architectural designs that harmonize culture, technology, and human experience. Our award-winning studio specializes in cultural venues, public spaces, and contemporary architecture, bringing multicultural perspectives from our work across Paris, New York, and Beijing to each project.
Discuss Your ProjectInterviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to merging music and architecture in the Tension Instrument Concert Hall is fascinating - could you elaborate on how Dvorak's New World Symphony specifically influenced your architectural prototype of wood bent by string tension?
Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 is a remarkable work. What fascinates me most is the introduction of its fourth movement, Allegro con fuoco, which builds the entire symphony to a climax through an intricate interplay of strings. The essence of string instruments lies in manipulating the tension of metal strings, while the dimensions of the wooden resonator define their tonal range. There is a constant tension between the metal and the wood, and it is this tension that creates the unique quality of string instruments.Drawing inspiration from this, I wanted to create an architectural prototype that echoes this interplay of strings. The varying tonal ranges and textures of the violin, viola, and cello correspond to different architectural scales. Therefore, the building is an orchestra of these different prototypes, just like the introduction of the fourth movement.
The dramatic contrast between historical and modern districts in Prague presents unique challenges - how did this cultural context shape your design decisions for the Tension Instrument Concert Hall, particularly in terms of urban landscape integration?
I believe that cities are constantly evolving, even those with long history. Historical buildings in such cities, when first constructed, represented the latest styles and most advanced construction techniques of their time. Therefore, we must respect the present moment by reflecting our contemporary construction technologies and design thinking in new buildings. Imagine a hundred years from now, this new building will stand alongside the older ones as part of the city's history.
The Tension Instrument Concert Hall's use of cantilevered curved walls combines steel and cross-laminated timber in an innovative way - could you walk us through the technical challenges and breakthroughs in achieving this distinctive architectural feature?
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) itself has high strength and is widely used in the architectural industry. However, using such large amounts of CLT to create curved surfaces at this scale was unprecedented. After consulting engineers, we decided to use steel cables at certain joints to provide lateral tension, ensuring the stability of the overall structure.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The concert hall is an orchestration of walls, balconies, and acoustic panels, which are developed from a unique architectural prototype by different scales and tectonics.
The site finds itself nested at the junction of historical and modern districts. Thus, the elements are carefully placed in the site with respect to programs, circulations, and urban landscape. The dramatic contrast of old and new creates a new cultural landmark for Prague. - Dimensions & Packaging
- 100m x 65m x 50m
- Tags
- Contemporary Architecture, Technical architecture, Architecture Tectonic, Concert Hall, Exhibition, Culture, Concept
- Production Technology
- Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), Concrete, Steel
- Design Challenge
- Architectural tectonic and technology has become the biggest challenge. Cantilevered curved walls were achieved in the combination of the steel and cross-laminated timber.
- Research
- The project is based on the study of architecture and music. The design focuses on how to take the inspiration from the intangible music and present it in the tangible architectural space. The design ultimately combines the two through "tension", a force that is prevalent in both architecture and music.
- Inspiration
- Tension is a material property that creates both music and architecture. Inspired by Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the prototype originates from a piece of wood bent by a string in tension. The concert hall is an orchestration of walls, balconies, and acoustic panels, which are developed from the prototype by different scales and tectonics.
- Project Duration
- The project started in January 2020 in Těšnov, Prague
- Operation Flow
- The site finds itself nested at the junction of historical and modern districts. Thus, the architectural space were carefully planned and placed in the site with respect to programs, circulations, and urban landscape. The dramatic contrast of old and new creates a new cultural landmark for Prague.
- Team Members
- Lihan Jin
- Image Credits
- Lihan Jin
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