Surface Agitation

Melbourne Recital Centre is to open on Monday, plugging the last gap in a sequence of arts buildings running from Hamer Hall to The Malthouse theatre a kilometre away. The Age was shown through the recital centre by ARM architect Ian McDougall and Arup acoustic engineer Andrew Nicol .

McDougall explained how they came to use 2995 wooden panels in the main recital hall to perfect the acoustics. “Those traditional halls of the 18th and 19th centuries are covered in seraphim, torsos and bits. We couldn’t do that here; it would end up looking like the Casino. Also, there are lots of modern halls in Japan and the US that are stripped of classicism and not really us. We had to find a decorative technique that would give surface agitation.”

The recital centre is to have a week long opening festival which includes two public open days, on February 7th and 15th, 10a.m. to 2p.m. Melburnians have been watching the construction with some wonder and much speculation over the last year or so, so expect crowds.

The Age 31.01.09
Melboune Recital Centre

MRC by night