REPORT 039
The architectural form of the concert hall is inextricably linked to its origins in history. Collectively we have deep cultural associations with the concert hall. Variations on the form of the concert hall make civic, political, and artistic statements. Increas- ingly, holding fast to the traditional form makes an equally strong statement.
ECONOMY
As music emerged from the churches and courts and its reach became much broader, a new economy for music was born. The concert hall was born not only out of artistic demand but also out of economic opportunity. The public concert hall allowed tickets to be sold and opportunities for revenue quickly developed. The form of the concert hall, whilst historically consistent with the traditions of the art form, also was a product of the building technology of the time. The narrow halls allowed structural spans that were feasible and cost-effective with available building materials. The height of the halls allowed the upper volume to collect warm and stale air, as well as fumes from gas or oil lamp lighting, allowing the lower strata of air to remain comfortable. Operable clerestory windows, high in the hall, allowed for supplemental daylight and also provided an effective opportunity for natural ventila- tion to flush out the undesirable air at the top of the room. The early public music venues had modest seating capacity, in the 400-500 person range. However, into and through the 19th century, the scale of concert hall, the seating capacity, the size of orchestras, and the robustness of the symphonic reper- toire all increased. By the end of the 1920s, concert halls of nearly 2,000 seats (or
many more) were found in Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago. These halls were still aesthetically similar to the traditional shoebox halls, but soon new halls seated patrons under deeper balconies and higher in the room, often with very little unoccupied volume above the highest listener. Following the Second World War, a new economy in construction techniques influenced concert hall design and performance. Steel trusses could span farther, accommodating wider rooms. Thick masonry walls were not required to support tall walls. Rather, massive masonry construction was replaced by structural steel frames enclosed by lightweight building skins. Reliable building ventilation systems and electric lighting allowed spaces with lower ceilings. The shorter, wider, fan-shaped rooms of 1950s and 60s resulted. Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv and the Jubilee halls in Edmonton and Calgary typify this period. The fan shape directed acoustic energy to the rear of the room. Lightweight materials absorbed bass energy. The primacy of the ceiling reflection resulted in an overly frontal sound, without a sense of en- velopment. Steeper raked floors should have offered better sightlines, but the wide fan-shaped rooms didn’t make better viewing experiences. Concert hall form has been influenced by the operational model of the venue. Orchestras, as well as opera, ballet and theatre companies, began to form in smaller cities. These organisations began to reconcile performance of a variety of art forms in markets that could not support multiple purpose-built halls. The viability of multiple performance halls was not only governed by the first-costs of construction and ability to fill seats. The simple cost of operation also increased
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