Tangible Utopia: Great Amber at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition
Under the title Tangible Utopia, architect Volker Giencke is exhibiting his Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepaja, Latvia as part of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. The project can be seen in the Time Space Existence exhibition in Palazzo Bembo, which lasts until 25 November. The conical, monolithic structure is slightly tilted and seems to be bracing itself against the wind – an allusion to the legend that the wind was born in Latvia's third largest city. Special features which required Bartenbach lighting design's expertise include the amber-coloured façade and the daylight-flooded concert hall, which was designed according to the principle of a terraced vineyard and provides wonderful acoustics. Daylight enters the centre of the concert hall through 14 mirror-finished reflective tubes.