Architekturzentrum Wien  
 

 
 
Bernhard Leitner. Sound Architecture
An exhibition in the framework of the MQ "Summer of Sounds"

RUNTIME: 26 June 2014 - 15 July 2014
OPENING: Wednesday 25 June 2014, 7pm
Welcome address: Dietmar Steiner, Az W
Opening lecture: Bernhard Leitner “Building with Sound”

Sound is Bernhard Leitner’s building material. Since 1968 this artist with sound and space has been investigating the creation of immaterial architectures through three dimensional sound movements and making sculptural use of sound material as structuring locate points and impulse areas for the design of spaces for acoustic experiences. In the Architekturzentrum Wien he presents “Le Cylindre Sonore”, which has stood in Paris since 1987. In the work “Raum-Reflexion” which was created especially for this exhibition the hall is acoustically mirrored through beams of sound. In addition the waves of energy from an oscillating steel spring create a sound space that is built up from body vibrations.

LE CYLINDRE SONORE is a double cylinder that stands in a sunken bamboo garden in the Parc de la Villette in Paris. The sounds that can be heard from outside attract people to this place which then, with its static and stationary form, invites them to linger there. Before you enter the garden itself a long staircase extending from the park brings you down to the sound space. The 5 metre high double cylinder with an internal diameter of 10 metres forms a resonating body that consolidates the sound through the weight and tension of the curved surfaces. Three loudspeakers behind each of eight perforated concrete elements are stacked vertically to form columns. Sound spaces are built up, developed and varied between the sound columns behind the concrete surfaces by the 24 loudspeakers. From each concrete element a narrow rivulet flows into a basin that surrounds the floor of the cylindrical, making it into an island. The sound of flowing water distracts from the noise of the urban surroundings and prepares one acoustically for the inner space. The closed architecture is open at the top to the vault of the sky and allows concentrated listening to the place and contemplative “finding of oneself beyond this place”.

Duration of the exhibition: 26.06. – 15.07.2014
Location: Architekturzentrum Wien, Halle F3
Opening times: Mon-Sun 10am-7pm
Admission free!

BERNHARD LEITNER: Biography

Bernhard Leitner was born in 1938 in Feldkirch, studied architecture at the TU Vienna and is today one of the internationally best-known artists in the area of “architecture that can be experienced sensually and acoustically”. As a pioneer of sound art he worked in New York from 1968 to 1983 initially in the Department of City Planning, later as an Associate Professor at New York University. He subsequently lived and worked in Berlin until 1986. From 1987 to 2005 Leitner was Professor of Media Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

Leitner’s work ranges from his early artistic research work during his time in New York to his physical acoustic studies (1969–1975), to the experiencing of spaces that are designed, shaped and composed by sound. Bernhard Leitner’s sound spaces create new dimensions of aesthetic experience and perception. The scale of his work ranges from large permanent installations (Le Cylindre Sonore in Paris, Sound Space TU Berlin) to body-related sculptures (Sound Chair, Vertical Space for one Person, Firmament) and to spaces that are especially conceived and shaped for the inside of the head.

Exhibitions (selection): PS 1, New York City, 1979. Neuburger Museum Purchase (Soundings), 1981. documenta 7, Kassel, 1982. Ars electronica, 1982. Biennale Venice, 1986. Akademie der Künste Berlin (Sonambiente), 1996 and 2006. Nationalgalerie Berlin, 1999. Kunsthalle Bremen, 2000. Donaueschinger Musiktage, 2003 and 2009. Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie Berlin, Museum für Gegenwart, 2008. TU Berlin-Wellenfeld H 104, 2010. Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna, 2011.

Media information on the exhibition and high resolution, free-of-charge press photos are available to be downloaded on the right.



© Archiv Leitner, Foto: Boudart / Cylindre Sonore, Parc de la Vilette Paris 

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Dates:
Bernhard Leitner. Sound Architecture


Downloads:
PRESS RELEASE: Bernhard Leitner. Sound Architecture

PRESS RELEASE: Exhibition text


Links:
Bernhard Leitner

Le Cylindre Sonore, Parc de la Vilette, Paris


Information:
Ines Purtauf
Tel.: +43 (1) 522 31 15 - 25
Fax: +43 (1) 522 31 17
Email: purtauf@azw.at

 
 
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