Zurich. A music pavilion for spontaneous performances

Conceived by Veronika Spierenburg, Der Loop is a wooden pavilion that creates a dry-sound space, with almost no reverberation. Set on a green area in the Schwamendingen district in Zurich, the public installation is a resonating body that serves as a special sound spot within the city. Artists, performers and visitors can play music in it or just sit and enjoy the urban space from a special perspective. The structure was inspired by late 19th century music pavilions (known as promenade concerts), that were popular meeting places for the bourgeois public. These structures were associated with a utopian egalitarian aspiration, as everyone could access music in public spaces.

The shape of Der Loop brings to mind an oversized instrument’s resonating body, being over 3 meters tall at its highest point and 5,5 meters long. It was developed initially as a clay structure, then 3D scanned and built by a timber construction company. Beneath the curved structure a special acoustic sphere opens up assuring a dry sound.