Berlin, Germany

The Berlin Philharmonie was developed in line with the architect’s socialist views and, by a combination of skill and accident, revealed a new way forward for acoustics – vineyard terracing. It also used the radical concept of ‘music in the round’. Hans Scharoun, it’s architect, noted the “people always gather in circles when listening to music informally”, and built on this idea in the design of the concert hall. Scharoun said of his hall “Music as the focal point….. . The orchestra and conductor stand spatially and optically in the very middle of things; if not at the mathematical centre then certainly completely enveloped by their audience. Here you will find no segregation of ‘producers’ and ‘consumers’, but rather a community of listeners grouped around an orchestra in the most natural of seating arrangements.”

(text (c) Bridget Shield, Trevor Cox 1999/2000 from "The Shape We're In")