The Triptych is a modular interactive acoustic pavilion, designed and built for the “Tribal Gathering” brief at the Bartlett School of Architecture. A structure that turns a tensioned-wire build into a touch-responsive instrument generating 360° sound and synchronised light.
Three triangular instruments form the pavilion. Each module carries three tensioned wires, a bridge and a pedal, played much like an upright bass. Plucked notes ripple between the instruments, amplified naturally by the pavilion’s geometry and through an integrated system of contact microphones and speakers.
Delay, echo and reverb extend the instruments’ natural tones, while lighting reacts to the amplitude of each pluck. Technology working as an invisible partner rather than a spectacle, drawing visitors into an interplay of sound and light.
At exhibition the pavilion became a hub of collective discovery, with visitors finding ways to play it we hadn’t designed for. It was subsequently re-exhibited at the Dulwich Picture Gallery as part of the Colour Palace Exhibition, in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture 2019.
Tribal Gathering exhibition
Playing the pavilion
Inside the pavilion
Module and pedal
