René Stevens gave a talk titled “I Call Architecture a Symphony of Form” (34 minutes) on 14 September 2023 for the international Earth Energies Zoom meeting group.
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’, which I prefer to call ‘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)
A great symphony orchestra brings together in perfect harmony people from many different countries, nationalities, races, creeds, and cultures, representing many specialised talents, each playing a different note on a different instrument for the perfection of the whole. So is the case with Architecture.
All physical matter in our universe vibrates and emanates a field of energy that can be measured and influenced. In his book Sacred Geometry, Robert Lawlor describes 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: as 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 like walking through an instrument as it 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, all instruments must be tuned and balanced and play with the right intensity and duration. Everything must be in sync for a high-level performance.
For the functioning of the built environment, it is equally essential 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). Understanding the entire living and working environment as a whole system is essential rather than just looking at individual parts and their symptoms. Focusing on all the different and isolated topics might be the main reason why so many problems with the learning/work environment are still not solved today or are even continuously increasing.