THE NOISE 
(Blur Building)

With BRUTAL OFFICE:
Nenad Simić, Nikola Zamurović, Jelena Nikolić, Aleksandar Joksimović, Marko Matejić, Ana Cogoljević, Darko Kadvanj

July 2012

Think Space 2012 - PAST FORWARD cycle, devised by this year guest curator Adrian Lahoud, aims to re-visit three competitions that radically transformed architectural culture: The Peak (1982), Yokohama Port Terminal (1995), and Blur Building (1999), with winning architects of the original competition as jurors in the current one: Zaha Hadid (The Peak), Alejandro Zaera-Polo (Yokohama Port Terminal) and Ricardo Scofidio and Charles Renfro (Blur Building).

EXHIBITED AT

February 2013 / 2nd Think Space UNCONFERENCE
Lauba - People and Art House, Zagreb, Croatia
January 2013 / THINK SPACE: The competitive hypothesis
Storefront for Art & Architecture, New York

The mysterious noise that Penzias and Wilson tapped into turned out to be the oldest
and most significant sound that anyone had ever heard. This was cosmic radiation left
over from the very birth of our universe.

Using the subtle discipline of radio astronomy we are picking up on the sound that
probably contains more answers than we can comprehend. A sonic completion to our
visual notion of the universe.

Cosmic noise is rarely heard, but is all around us. The ever present resounding sound
of the Big Bang is the sound received by this pavilion. It is then emitted, to the level of
silencing all surrounding sounds. In case of this object, the noise becomes inviting.
Approaching the edge, with each step forward, noise intensifies and visitors enter
a different kind of mental state.

In physics and electronics, noise is mostly unwanted random addition to a signal.
"Static" is heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical
noise. It manifests itself as "snow" on television or video.

The surrounding and the pavilion are one, with its poplar portal, horizon, lake, hill,
nature, forming land art. While the object consists of one simple path, slightly tilted
skywards, in a way disconnecting it from its environment, distancing it from the town
and the ground level.

Spiritual places are traditionally associated with silence and calm. Here, this is evoked
by calm and noise. Speakers at the end of the path emit the cosmic static,
play it live, tuned to its frequency, resounding and spanning along the pathway.
As ears cach a faint buzz at first, the noise gradually increases as one approaches
the source of it. It becomes louder, reaching its peak at the end of the path.
There is nothing on this way but a straight one kilometer long path leading to
the noise.

Slow down and listen...

By getting inside, one may feel isolated, purify thoughts, increase awareness, expand
consciousness, focus on the inner despite being surrounded by beautiful nature.
Once there, surrounded by the sound of the cosmic radiation, one is provoked to
contemplative moods, meditating on the big questions, bathing in amplified truth.

Green spaces on the ground become camping ground for visitors who wish to
follow their unique experience of nature in Yverdon-les-Bains.

The intervention contains a clear invitation to isolate and hear the timeless
soundtrack of our universe.

The noise becomes the building material, seminal part of the pavilion, defining its
architecture, challenging perception, reshaping space in new and inspiring ways.