The project, invented by the administration of the Lucerne Music Festival and Kajimoto Concert Management, was given the self-explanatory name Ark Nova, which can be translated as “new ark”. The idea is extremely simple - to bring elements of normal human life to the regions of Japan destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami - first of all, Tahoku.
Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor and Japanese architect Arata Isozaki designed an inflatable shell made from an elastic polymer material. Its installation and dismantling will not create any particular difficulties and will not take much time. The project is a universal concert hall for 500-700 seats, where jazz and classical concerts, performances, music and dance shows, and various multimedia projects can be successfully held. Experienced festival managers in Lucerne look forward to participating in the action of celebrity musicians. But the organizers emphasize that, thanks to sponsorship, all events will be completely free (the international UBS group has already supported the initiative).
The structure is mobile, but the quality of sound and vision will not suffer from this. Nagata Acoustics specialist Yasushisa Toyota is in charge of acoustics, and David Staples of Theater Projects is responsible for the layout of the hall. So residents of the affected areas of Japan will fully enjoy the best in contemporary music culture.
A. S.
