Perforated brick walls wrap an open-roof stage at this circular music centre in Cambodia, completed by Swiss architecture studio Atelier Oï.
Named The Gong after its circular shape, the centre was designed for the 150-hectare campus of Smiling Gecko, an educational charity founded by Swiss photographer Hannes Schmid in 2014.
It contains recording studios, a cafe and offices around its auditorium, enclosed by walls of bricks that have been rotated or removed entirely to create textured surfaces that reference musical vibrations.
Atelier Oï has created a circular music centre in Cambodia
"The design was inspired by the gong, commonly used during ceremonies and rituals in Cambodian culture," explained Atelier Oï.
"We wanted to freeze the image of a sound pattern, the vibrations that spread out in concentric circles when the centre of the gong is struck," it added. "Visually, the interplay of openings and protruding bricks creates a sculptural surface."
It has an open roof
To protect it from flooding, The Gong is elevated on two metres of soil excavated during the creation of a nearby rainwater retention basin.
At its centre is a circular stage described by Atelier Oï as an impluvium ? a type of atrium in ancient Greek and Roman homes used for the collection of rainwater.
Perforated brick walls enclose the building
Informed by this concept, the funnel-shaped section of the tiled roof at the centre of The Gong channels water into a drain around ...