KKL Luzern – Client visit

If KKL Luzern is nearly 30 years old, it doesn’t show.
(I was there with a client a couple of weeks ago.)

Designed by Jean Nouvel, the building still feels precise, theatrical and loved.
Well, perhaps it does show a little age in the backstage areas, where I met the brass orchestra preparing for their evening concert. But there, the wear and tear is evidence of the venue’s success and busy programme.

The foyer, with its interior rivers, is impressively open. It may create some challenges for simultaneous events, but visually it is wonderful and connected to the water front.

The passerelles leading to the main hall balconies, and the long, almost mystical red corridors, reminded me of the very long soundlocks at the Philharmonie de Paris. A fantastic architectural trick to maintain the suspense and delaying the gratification of finally entering the hall.

The hall itself speaks of verticality and, from the fourth balcony, probably of vertigo. I was lucky enough to have tickets in the stalls and 1st balcony. From there, the hall looks grand, ceremonial.

The doors to the reverberation chambers were open, revealing mysterious red painted spaces that prolong the decay of sound in the hall. The added reverberation clearly sounds as coming from above, just above (but I understand that this can change using the lower level doors more). Definitely audible both in the stalls and on stage.

The tone is warm, as I expected, given the heavy materials (concrete doors!) and the extensive shallow diffusion throughout the hall. The room has a mellow voice while retaining enough clarity and presence.

What kept me alert during the concert? The hard seat!
And also the ten snare drums perched on the edge of the stage, playing at full force and at a deafening pace. At that point, the hall certainly woke up, with the overstage canopy contributing some noticeably unusual reflections from that (unusual) stage position.

Perhaps the most spectacular part of KKL, for me, was the roof: framing the waterfront and the mountains, with a terrace overlooking the lake. It sets the tone for a very high-quality evening before the music even begins.

After 30 years, the building still looks incredibly tidy and cared for.

(There will be a follow up post on the fascinating concert I attended the next morning.)