Architecture

Rhythm is to intuition, emotion, and aesthetics, what scientific order and logic are to the intellect. One of the essential qualities of rhythm, if not the essential quality, is its power of conveying the presence of life. —Emil-Jacques Dalcroze, Rhythm, Music and Education

Combining his background in public art and jazz music for the past twenty years, Christopher Janney has created a number of large-scale interactive sound/light environments and sculptures which make built spaces more spontaneous, more “alive.” Recently, he has focused on the development of permanent artworks for public and private spaces that use a combination of interactive electronics, colored glass and sound integrated with the steel and concrete of the building.

2004 Resonating Frequencies: New York
The Great hall, Cooper Union 2004
Dialogues on Architecture and Music
Conceived by Christopher Janney
‘Resonating Frequencies: Dialogues on Architecture and Music’ began as part of the “New Sound New York” Festival in Spring 2004. Participants included: Gregg Lynn, DJ Spooky, Thom Mayne, Philip Glass, Martha Schwartz, Laurie Anderson, Bernard Tschumi and Moby. Janney is planning to launch another series in Spring 2005 in collaboration with The Center for Architecture, New York.

2004 A House Is A Musical Instrument: Lexington

2002 House as a Musical Instrument: Kona
The architectural design of this eight thousand square foot private residence, on a coastal cliff on the island of Kona, is based on the cosmological principles and rhythms of Hawaii. Among the unique features of the house are an underground wine cellar in the shape of a “lava tube”, a roof observation deck equipped with a high-powered telescope, a Steinway piano which plays at sunrise, noon, sunset and midnight, and a custom-designed clock which shows the daily position of the sun and moon. This is a house conceived and built to reveal the “hidden music” of this Hawaiian site.

Project credits:
Holly Boling/Philpotts Associates, ASID; DavidTamura,
ASLA; Doug Geller; Bill Codington/CodingtonSpecial Effects; Steinway and Sons; Mark Wong/MIDI Programming.