There is Music in Every Building | Tom McGlynn | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Both Architecture and Music are compositions. Can we imagine a building’s components as sounds, translating it to music?
Tom McGlynn studied at the University of Cambridge, the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and University of Westminster, qualifying as an architect in 2008. He has worked for a number of design-led practices and is currently an associate at award-winning London-based Níall McLaughlin Architects. He was named Project Architect of the Year at the RIBA East Awards in 2018 for his work on the West Court project for Jesus College Cambridge. Tom McGlynn studied at the University of Cambridge, the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and University of Westminster, qualifying as an architect in 2008. He has worked for a number of design-led practices and is currently an associate at award-winning London-based Níall McLaughlin Architects. He was named Project Architect of the Year at the RIBA East Awards in 2018 for his work on the West Court project for Jesus College Cambridge. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@OnafetsOradoD]

Thank you very much for this talk!

[@meharbhallay6722]

LOVED THIS, GREAT JOB !!! THANKS A TON

[@thabisiledhlamini9466]

Amazing. Thank you.

[@debajyoti.guha_bong]

14:33 ! What a beautiful line !

[@chinthus9267]

This is brilliant!

[@aryamangcad7714]

Can we create a building design from a sound composition?

[@edwarddutoit6505]

Yes, most definitely

[@emiliopiano.official]

Xenakis did that!

[@teekabhattarai1558]

Melodious! Minimalism demands a bit more thinking; may not demand even that level of cognition than what Tom has been doing.

[@edwarddutoit6505]

Misically enriched Architectural structures are indefinite features and renditions inherent in any Composition or design. Only the language needs to be understood. "EP duToit:1993".

[@jonathanhayes3518]

This was okay... I don't really get the purpose of a building that just sounds like music when you plug it into a computer. Especially on the techno side of music scale. When played on stage it's running at a speed much faster than anybody just walking by, and likely slower than anyone riding by. Plus it sounds like the entire point of this _living space_ is that it looks like what a DJ sees on his computer, but he gives little insight into the actual architecture of this building, almost like it was the last thing they thought about. It even seems like he even says that all architecture is like a musician making a song, and that they all have their human mistakes in them *_and_* that it's like the building would've just been better off as a song instead of a full project. First off, musicians have plenty of songs that don't get finished or heard by anyone, or they get built upon before being released to the public as a complete project, but if you're an architect, your building should be built confidently ready to be what it's supposed to be. Let your sketches be the freestyles and the models be the final draft before the finished project is put together, confident in it's artistic (or in this case architectural) value. And secondly, the way he ends talking about how the building might've been better off as just a song is not a great finish to his project. I mean, he isn't entirely wrong, but there is a specific reason however. It doesn't seem like there was too much thought put into the actual design of the interior or use of the space, nor too much creativity with the use of materials since they just represent a different noise in the song being made by a DJ. I would've loved to have gotten to know more about how the inside continued with this concept and really brought it to life, but instead it looks just like the computer monitor brought too life. It all is just too clear that *this building is music*, whereas the other examples (even baroque, which I'm not a particular fan of) he gave weren't the sheets of paper with musical notes turned into windows made of different materials. Even the techno example he gave a certain rhythm that wasn't just a mirror of what a DJ sees when he makes a song, but like the others, inspires us to feel the musical essence of it without writing it out word for word in *bold ALL CAPS LETTERS RIGHT IN OUR 👀*. 😮‍💨 I don't hate the building, I just wish they took it a step further, maybe even a couple steps. I myself have considered the conversation about where architecture and music meet, so this is my first time ever hearing anyone else speak of it closely to how I would. With that being said, this was a great introduction for me and even furthered my understanding of it a lot more. But I do think the shortcomings of this concept into reality is that it didn't inspire me to think or get lost in what the music could sound like. And worse yet, to anyone not in on the word on this concept might not understand what this is supposed to be, almost like you're either in on it and you can't not think back to the song, or you're just looking at a pattern on an apartment. But again, I don't hate the building, I just wish they did more than mace a facade, instead of breathing that techno life into the full form of the building. The Sounthbank Hayward Gallery isn't punk because it's a block with triangle windows and an exterior facade with shifting diagonal surfaces to show the riffs of a guitar. The building itself feels like a loud outcast who made it's own rules. I think this building just needed to be thought over longer before coming out "imperfections and errors," and is not like an on stage performance where you put on a display. Despite all this, I loved the video, and it was very helpful in furthering my own understanding of music and architecture.

[@jonathanhayes3518]

I think I was too harsh. I looked at some pictures online to get a better understanding of it, and it does actually fit within the context of the buildings around it, and seems to be somewhat consistent on the interior, particularly in the wing where the "variation" takes place. So I give it points for meshing with it's surroundings well and maybe even inspiring the neighbors to take a closer look at the patterns on their own buildings.

[@shintaroariyama5623]

@@jonathanhayes3518i dont think you were harsh, i got your feeling as well as an architect that has made this analogy on my own way and felt underwhelmed by this analogy process, but hey, we cant judge, everyone creates from a personal perspective. What made me feel underwhelmed is that the dimension of time in music cant be expressed in a linear facade reading as if architecture was to be seen from outside rather than FELT。 I think that the melodies of space should pursuit beauty and trascendence, such as the greate composers have done in the past. Sadly what i’m talking about cant be explicitly translated to form, since both, space and music speak in a dimension we cannot comprehend (my personal belief as an architects who wants to let people know what beauty can do through architecture)