OPEN designed the Chapel of Sound in Beijing, China.

This project, nestled in a mountainous valley two hours away from Beijing, is a monolithic open-air concert hall resting in the valley of the Ming Dynasty-era Great Wall ruins.

While designed to capture the unfamiliar and deeply touching experience of music performed in the cradle of nature, the designers equally wanted to create a space of calm where visitors can unwind to the healing sounds of nature.

Working with acoustic engineers, the designers discovered the ways sound reverberates in natural spaces and applied this to the concert hall. "When the sun is shining, the hall plays with sunlight in addition to sound," said OPEN. "When it rains, water can enter the hall through the central opening...onto the floor in a meditative spectacle."

When no performance is scheduled, the Chapel of Sound provides a tranquil space for contemplation, along with community gatherings among the vast skies and surrounding landscapes.

This project has been longlisted in the cultural building category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: OPEN

Project: Chapel of Sound