SoundArt HOT — Berlin, est. 2014
Selected Commissions,
2014–2024.
Five permanent sound environments for hospitality groups and cultural institutions, documented as catalogue plates rather than portfolio entries.
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Editor's Note
On selection.
The five plates below are not a portfolio reel. They are the commissions we still measure new briefs against — projects where the sonic outcome held up to the architecture five, six, seven years after handover, and where the curatorial counterpart sent a note rather than a punch list. Each was selected because it taught us something we could not have learned at the drawing board: how a 12-metre atrium returns a 38 Hz pressure node in July humidity, why a museum wants the emergency announcement to feel like weather, what a suite guest actually listens for at 4 a.m.
— Lena Marković, Studio Principal, Berlin, October 2024
Plate I — Hospitality
Aman Tokyo — Lobby Atrium & Spa Transition, 2022.
Brief
Compose and install a continuous sonic envelope across the 30-metre lobby atrium and the subterranean spa transition, with a single acoustic identity readable from arrival to robe. No repeating loop structure, no recognisable source material.
Technical approach
- 64-channel Ambisonic source rig routed through 31 concealed transducers in the lantern lattice and stair soffit.
- SpatialHarmony™ calibration across three pressure zones — lobby, elevator descent, spa threshold — tuned independently for humidity differentials between December and July.
- Catalogue work: two original compositions (47′ and 38′), non-looping, written for alto flute, prepared koto, and granular-processed field recordings from the Imperial Palace gardens.
Hardware
31 × custom 2-way coax drivers; 4 × sub-cardioid boundary elements; Ambisonic decode on a dedicated silent-rack; Genelec 8430A IP calibration monitors. Five-year acoustic maintenance contract in effect.
Credits
Composition & spatial direction — Lena Marković
Acoustic engineering — Studio team
Curatorial counterpart — Aman Tokyo Design Office
Commissioning — April 2022
Plate II — Cultural Institution
Louvre Abu Dhabi — Permanent Sonic Topographies, 2019–2023.
A four-year curatorial engagement commissioned by Agence France-Muséums, covering twelve visitor zones beneath Jean Nouvel's dome. The composition matrix treats the dome's geometric perforation pattern as a spatial score — each ring of openings carries a discrete harmonic band, decoded across 24 zones.
Calibration was suspended twice (2020, 2021) for closure; on-site work resumed only with ISO 9001-certified protocols, which the studio has held continuously since 2018.
- Zones covered
- 12 visitor zones
- Channels
- 64-source Ambisonic
- Engagement
- 2019–2023, four years
- Curatorial counterpart
- Agence France-Muséums
Plate III — Hospitality, Suite-Level
Rosewood São Paulo — 47 Suite-Specific Sound Fields, 2023.
Brief
Replace a single repeating lounge loop with 47 discrete, suite-resident sound fields — one per guest room — each calibrated to the room's volume, glazing ratio, and orientation. Guests must not perceive a shared source between adjacent rooms.
Calibration outcome
Post-installation measurement across all 47 suites delivered an average 4.2 dB improvement in perceived ambience versus the property's baseline acoustics (internal data, 2023). The delta is most pronounced in corner suites along the Avenida Paulista frontage, where glazing was the dominant reflective surface.
Hardware & process
- Patented SpatialHarmony™ calibration engine (used in 38 five-star properties to date).
- Per-suite 31-band target derived from RT60 and STI measurements at six source positions.
- Catalogue licensing: 47 bespoke 90-minute works, drawn from the studio's 600+ composition catalogue and re-edited per room.
- Commissioning completed on schedule — part of a 96% on-time delivery rate across the last five years.
Credits
Composition — Studio team
Calibration lead — Studio engineering
Counterpart — Rosewood São Paulo, with Studio MK27
Commissioning — September 2023
By the numbers
A studio measured by what it has shipped.
143
Permanent installations live across 27 countries as of 2024.
27
Countries with at least one commissioned installation since founding.
4.2dB
Average improvement in perceived ambience versus baseline acoustics.
96%
On-time commissioning rate across the last five years.
All figures drawn from the studio's own commissioning records, 2014–2024. Independent verification on request.