Architecture of the Philharmonic
Because music lovemaking is often a manifestation of a broader love of beauty, it is nice when it can be indulged in spaces that stimulate the aesthetic sense also in the visual layer, i.e. in an environment of uncommon, sophisticated architecture, such as in Paris Philharmonic by Jean Nouvel.
For years, the flagship example of such thinking about the design of musical edifices of cultural institutions was the opera house in Sydney by Jørn Utzon, who was honored with the Pritzker Prize in 2003, while the work of his imagination itself was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List four years later. Such a high-set bar seems to motivate and inspire architects creating contemporary philharmonics. Many of the results of their work are winning prestigious industry competitions. Among such is the Mieczyslaw Karlowicz Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin, designed by Spanish studio Estudio Barozzi Veiga, awarded the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Prize for it in 2015.
