federico babina harmonizes sound and structure for archimusic

federico babina harmonizes sound and structure for archimusic
(above) the beatles ‘let it be’
all images courtesy of federico babina

italian illustrator federico babina unites sound and structure for his latest series ‘archimusic’. 27 different songs make up the soundtrack of this collection of drawings depicting various tunes and their author. ‘music and architecture are intimately joined by a cosmic connection: they both are generated by an underlying code, an order revealed by mathematics and geometry’. babina describes ‘music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence’.

elvis presley ‘can’t help falling in love’ is illustrated by an all white building with presley’s signature sideburns

the drawn edifices are placed on the musical staff as a metaphor for structural foundation. while some of the architectural structures resemble the musicians themselves, others reference popular album covers and titles, melodic tones, harmonies, chords and spatial progressions evident in the songs. in one example, a mostly white tower is capped by a black roof and row of windows, supported by a angled beam — the image closely resembles the familiar image of rock legend elvis presley singing into his microphone. another instance describes the stacked floors of a building as the undulating graphics from joy division’s ‘unknown pleasures’ album. take a look below for the full series and final ‘city’.

michael jackson ‘billie jean’

radiohead ‘no surprises’

amy winehouse ‘rehab’

pink floyd ‘wish you were here’

joy division ‘love will tear us apart’ is described by the undulating lines from their ‘unknown pleasures’ album

david bowie ‘space oddity’ is represented by the artist’s signature red lightning bolt motif painted on his face

jim morrison ‘light my fire’

nirvana ‘smells like teen spirit’

the full city

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