René Stevens gave a talk “I Call Architecture a Symphony of Form” (34 minutes) for the international Earth Energies Zoom meeting group on 14 September 2023.
One of the lost secrets of ancient wisdom teachings is that geometry is vibration. Geometry is a visual representation, a structural manifestation of vibration. “Music is the light we cannot see, Light is the Music we cannot hear.” (Robert Edward Grant). “Geometry is the music we hear with our eyes.” (René Stevens).
The German writer Johan Wolfgang von Goethe called Architecture ‘frozen music’, I prefer to call it ‘Symphony of Form’, a symbiotic resonance between architecture and its occupants to create (more) added value.
“Architecture is a Symphony of Form,
a symbiotic resonance between architecture and its occupants to create (more) added value.”
(René Stevens)
All physical matter in our universe is vibrating and emanates a field of energy that can be measured and influenced. Robert Lawlor describes in his book Sacred Geometry matter as ‘geometrized light energy’, i.e. energy stabilized and held in a form by geometry. Whenever anything vibrates it creates a geometric pattern. Vibrations affect matter and thus also living beings.
The ecosystem of Bricks, Bytes and Behaviour, should be managed in the same way a forester manages a forest. A flexible space that keeps us and the planet healthy.
Architecture is not only visual vibration. When you go through a building it’s even more; it is as walking through the instrument itself as the instrument is being played. Architecture creates buildings as giant resonating musical instruments. As music is the vibration of sound, architecture is about visual geometrical and spatial vibrations, and much more. When we move through a building, it can shape our thoughts and feelings just as music does.
When an orchestra performs a musical symphony, it is important that all instruments are tuned, in balance, and playing with the right intensity and duration. For a high-level performance, everything must be in sync.
For the functioning of the built environment, it is equally important that all building components, like shapes, parts, materials and colours, including the relationship with nature are in sync. A building creates a symphony of all the building components.
“Why does this space feel good?” is a similar question to “Why does this music move me to tears?” (Richard Feather Anderson) It’s important to understand the entire living and working environment as a whole system, rather than just looking at individual parts and their symptoms. Focussing on all the different and isolated topics might be the main reason why so many problems with the learn/work environment are still not solved today or are even continuously increasing.