ARCHITECTURE
The Order of Sound
BOTH OF THESE VISIONARY DRAWINGS occupy a slender,
upright pictorial space. The architect and musician Daniel
Libeskind has drawn a stampeding cacophany of airborne
architectural detail, while the composer Erik Satie has made
an enclosure of quiet order and grace. Both men used rulers
and pens to carefully and slowly construct their compositions.
Contemporary musicians commonly collaborate with
artists by interpreting images as sound. There has always
been a natural affinity between the visual rhythms of
pictures and the audible rhythms of music. We can see, and
in a sense hear, such a rapport in both of these drawings.
Libeskind begins quietly in the upper space of his drawing,
before cascading into a riot of line and sound below. Satie
draws quietly throughout, and the spaces between his
windows and turrets are the visual equivalent of pauses in
his music compositions for piano (see also Bussotti, p.223).
DANIEL LIBESKIND
A Polish American architect
of international acclaim.
Libeskind's numerous
commissions include concert
halls and museums. He also
produces urban and landscape
designs, theater sets, installations,
and exhibitions of his drawings.
Libeskind studied music before
transferring to architecture. He
also contributed to plans for the
rebuilding of the World Trade
Center site in New York.
Floor plan This drawing has
been made with a rapidograph, a
refillable pen that feeds a constant
supply of ink through a fine tubular
nib. Across the top and center right
of the image we perceive an almost
recognizable architectural plan.
Floor space appears divided by
discernible walls, corridors, and
rooms, and arched dotted lines
depict the radius of doors.
Visual rhythms In the lower half of
this drawing architectural language
has broken loose: escaped and
transformed into an image of
rebellious pleasure. We can imagine
how a musician might interpret this
drawing by looking at the abstract
visual rhythms of masses composed
of long straight poles, short curved
poles, flat boards, and dotted lines.
Arctic Flowers
1980
DANIEL LIBESKIND
