Teatro del Lago, Frutillar, Chile

Opera hall

The complicated technical and esthetic demands in this acoustic hall come together almost playfully to form a volume that works like a well-tuned instrument. The hall is designed for operas and symphonic concerts without electro-acoustical amplification for 1,200 spectators. Basis for this are a well equipped stage with orchestra pit (2011) and the exact acoustic planning and simulations. Walls and ceilings have to fulfill a number of technical functions: architectural illumination, illumination-bridge for the stage, equipment for audio, video, illumination and security as well as visual sight-lines for public and actors. In a number of design-studies ceiling and wall panels were coordinated with each other. The ceiling seems like a frozen acoustic wave expanding from the stage into the audience. On the walls 800 different curved panels were shaped to scale-like particles and then deformed by parametric rules. The hall transmits the impression one is sitting inside an instrument.