elizabeth diller interview at RESONATE lisbon

RESONATE lisbon was a one-day conference held at the AL_A-designed MAAT museum on february 12, 2018. titled ‘thinking sound and space’, the conference used architectural case studies to explore the relationships between architecture, art, and sound. at the event, designboom spoke with elizabeth diller who leads interdisciplinary design studio diller scofidio + renfro. in the in-depth interview, the architect discussed her longstanding engagement with architecture and sound, including the transformation of lincoln center and the shed — new york’s new center for artistic invention.

the hypar lawn at lincoln center | image © iwan baan
read more about the project on designboom here

at RESONATE lisbon, elizabeth diller stressed the importance of designing concert and performance venues that suit their specific requirements. ‘I feel like I’m constantly learning about performance venues,’ diller told designboom. ‘everything that I’ve learned is good for that particular set of circumstances, not necessarily applicable to the next set of circumstances. I think that there’s no absolute solution for performance spaces — if there was, you’d just be churning them out. the question is — what kind of performance? what’s the size? where is it — up high, on the street, below the ground? each project is entirely different, as far as the work that we’ve done so far.’

lincoln center’s alice tully hall as seen from the balcony | image © iwan baan
read more about the project on designboom here

in the interview, diller discusses the role of the institution as an important part of the city. ‘I think more and more, the attraction to concert halls is not only for people that have tickets to go to the concert,’ continues diller. ‘people go to concert halls, and cultural buildings, and institutions as spaces of social well-being, and spaces where alternative events are happening — social and educational events and so forth. I think it’s very, very important to get that right, and to get the interface between the city and urban space and the institution to have a really strong exchange and not just have a wall between municipal space, and private space, and the institution. that’s where the hope of the future of culture is — it’s exposing new audiences to what’s going on.’

the shed under construction as seen from the high line | image by ed lederman
read more about the project on designboom here

‘architecture is very professionalized these days,’ diller continued. ‘it’s very different than it was before, where an architect is a generalist and he or she can do everything — from sound, to light, to urban projects, and individual buildings, to hotels, to concert halls, to schools — everything. now, it’s such a professionalized architectural culture that there are specialists in all of these things. on any given project — let’s say for our concert hall — you would have 25 specialists and consultants that are all doing nuanced things. for most buildings, there are many consultants that you deal with. they all have professional knowledge, and they all have expertise in their particular kind of analysis and fabrication approach and so forth.’

watch the video interview in full at the top of the page, and see designboom’s coverage of RESONATE lisbon here.

the shed’s telescoping outer shell can be deployed over an adjoining plaza
image courtesy of DS+R / rockwell group

the museum of image and sound is under construction in rio de janeiro | image courtesy of DS+R
read more about the project on designboom here

elizabeth diller on stage at RESONATE lisbon
image by paulo andre coelho

RESONATE lisbon was a one-day conference held the MAAT museum on february 12, 2018
image by paulo andre coelho

RESONATE lisbon is a one-day conference organized by MAAT and reSITE aimed at an exclusive architecture, tech and art audience, focusing on architectural soundscapes, the technological innovation of sound environments, and the creation of ground-breaking acoustic experiences. the event is presented in collaboration with meyer sound.