France’s Metaphone is a Solar-Powered Pixelated Music Hall That Vibrates with Music

The grand Metaphone is a pixilated music hall located in Pas-de-Calais, France. Designed by <a title="France’s Metaphone is a Modern Pixilated Music Hall That Vibrates With Music" href="http://www.herault-arnod.fr/" target="_blank">Hérault Arnod Architectes</a>, the unusual space allows for new musical forms, dynamic lighting, and unique sounds to be reflected across the architectural structure itself. Made from a steel frame covered with rectangular panels of various materials—including glass, wood and corten steel—the shelter’s translucent skin produces and disseminates <a title="France’s Metaphone is a Modern Pixilated Music Hall That Vibrates With Music" href="http://inhabitat.com/charming-giant-sculpture-aeolus-makes-wind-audible-in-london/" target="_blank">sounds</a> outside, becoming an instrument on its own right.

The Metaphone consists of an open concert hall with capacity for 500 seats and 800 standing.

The massive structure also boasts a bar, restaurant, a high-tech stage, and a facility for outdoor concerts.

The whole structure is enveloped in a light metal skin, and a double wall acts as an additional acoustic feature.

However, the most notable aspect of the building is the instrumental skin which can produce sounds controlled by electronic keyboards from within.

Unique and innovative, the Metaphone also opens its space to the street, forming an inviting wide porch that at the same time protects the entrance and the terrace. With a volume of black concrete at the back, the massive shelter also features a surface of integrated photovoltaic cells across its 6500 sq ft surface.

A curious concert hall and cultural hub, this beautiful building brings a new dimension to music through architecture.