“Outdoor music spreads through the air, merging with the sounds, smells and colors of nature, the green of the meadows, the red of the sunset, the blue of the sea. The landscape is a very special setting for a concert, which makes the sound less technical, more authentic and sincere. Music and nature interpenet. The acoustic stage has the delicate task of amplifying the magic of their meeting.”
(Michele De Lucchi 2021)
The Palco Acustico for Stresa Festival 2021 is a stage machine for en-plein air concerts that wants to activate a synergistic connection between music, nature and people. It is a musical pavilion, a natural sound amplifier born from the will of Michele De Lucchi and Mario Brunello, the artistic director of the festival, to use architecture and music to bring people closer to the landscape and stimulate environmental sensitivity.
The structure, in larch wood, is configured as a shell whose walls act as a sounding board for sounds and melodies. This natural amplification does not require electronic components, in fact the intensity of the sound depends solely by the arrangement of the musicians on stage. The panels that embrace the platform and determine the shell shape, are supported by exposed wooden arms that reveal the simplicity ofthe stage mechanics: an easily transportable system and can be assembled in the different contexts of Lake Maggiore which can be placed in the vicinity of the shore and along the slopes of the surrounding woods.
The music pavilion is conceived as a wandering scenography, which takes music to unexpected places and enhances the nature of the territory.
The feasibility study of acoustic modeling and simulation was of fundamental importance for the success of this stage machine. It was developed by the university research team led by Professor Marco Imperadori. With the help of engineering software we optimized the structure and, above all, designed the ideal parameters identified to obtain high sound quality without the support of electric amplifications. The execution, entrusted to D3Wood, is based on the potential of numerical control machines that make it possible to obtain solid wood products with innovative and non-standardized shapes.
The harmony of colors is another essential component of the project. For a lower impact on the landscape, the larch has been darkened with a natural treatment, accelerating the process of chromatic change of the wood which is not a simple construction material, but an element with a life of its own, made of perfume, color and sound.
Even the lighting, through rechargeable lights, is designed to achieve a suffused effect, which recreates the atmosphere of conviviality characteristic of camp fires. Through the interaction and synthesis of all the elements, the acoustic stage project aspires to create an alternative and natural experience of music and architecture, which favors the connection between people and the environment.
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Cover photo © Stresa Festival ph. Lorenzo Di Nozzi
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