Plainchant and Architecture

American architect Steven Holl has found inspiration in plainchant neume notation when designing the brand new Maggie’s Centre in London. (Maggie’s helps anyone affected by cancer.)

Plainchant is of course the foundation of western music, but that’s ancient history. This building proves that even today plainchant can still be a vital force in the construction of something so stunningly beautiful as this concrete-bamboo-and-glass building.

Here’s Steven Holl explaining the concept:

Photography courtesy of Iwan Baan.