Looking for harmony? Step inside

A walk-in image of the facade of Hamburg, Germany's newly built Elbphilharmonie concert hall was recently erected at Shanghai's Jing'an Sculpture Park, inviting visitors to create their own music.

Covering nearly 80 square meters, the outdoor interactive facility included a 45-degree angled mirror, through which the Elbphilharmonie appeared standing upright at an impressive scale.

In Hamburg, the concert hall consists of two parts - new construction on top of an old warehouse. The building was designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, renowned for designing National Stadium in Beijing - the Bird's Nest.

Within the interactive facility were pressure-sensitive mats that created a carpet of sound. Visitors could make their own music by stepping on the mats, activating individual groups of instruments.

The more they moved around, the more instruments rang out. When one mat was activated, the respective instrument was synchronized with music already playing to create a harmonious sound. If all the mats were occupied, the music could be heard as if being played by an entire ensemble.

The facility was in Shanghai from Nov 2 to Nov 5 as part of a global roadshow for the Elbphilharmonie, which will open in January, according to Carola Veit, president of the parliament of the German state of Hamburg.

The Elbphilharmonie roadshow will travel to more than 10 stops in Europe, the USA and Asia, with Shanghai the first stop in Asia.

The reason for choosing Shanghai as the first stop stems from the important relationship between Shanghai and Hamburg.

The two locations are celebrating their 30th anniversary of becoming sister cities, Veit said during the Hamburg delegration's visit to Shanghai from Oct 31 to Nov 3.

"There's lot for Shanghai to learn from Hamburg, such as music and culture. Take the Elbphilharmonie, for example. It is a mixture of old and new architecture, which gives us some idea of how to protect Shanghai's numerous old buildings while adding something new," says Liu Guangyong, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office.

"Shanghai is currently boosting innovation across the city. In my view, innovation should not be confined to the technology sector, but could also be extended to areas such as culture, music and the arts," adds Liu.

Shanghai and Hamburg are both influential economic centers, as well as being the biggest hub ports of their countries. They have been sister cities since 1986 and to date have cooperated and communicated in many different fields.

In addiction to the concert hall roadshow, a series of activities are planned between the two nations, including "China Time" in Hamburg this month. The biannual event aims to spread Chinese culture worldwide through more than 200 activities.

Meanwhile, The 7th Hamburg Summit: China Meets Europe took place from Nov 23 to 24 at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/25/2016 page21)