We produced the 336 diamond-shaped concrete slabs in 4 colours with an acid-etched surface for the Cimbalom Circle located near Budapest’s House of Music, signed by architect Sou Fujimoto. The colours of the concrete slabs were selected through a long experimental process.

At the center of the artwork is the Cimbalom, a stringed instrument invented in Budapest in 1874. People walk a tune, play their own games, or dance, creating ever-evolving contemporary compositions with traditional sounds.

Cimbalom Circle is the third installment of Daily tous les jours’ Musical Pavement series that brings a new musical dimension to cities. These artworks live permanently in urban architecture to stimulate the emergence of new gathering habits and opportunities for a wide audience to play music together.

The Cimbalom Circle system has 36 interactive units embedded in concrete tiles, each including a sensor and a responsive light ring. Place your foot, wheel, hand… on a sensor to play a note. Tap multiple sensors to play arpeggios. Explore alone or with others to compose many melodies – the rhythms depend on the distance between the sensors played. Step on one sensor, then another, then another and create a loop, drawing patterns of music, and light, with your feet.

Music emanates from the ground as if by magic. The sound system comprises speaker tiles developed to have no visible hardware, resist outdoor conditions and blend into the concrete pavement pattern.

Architect

Garten Stúdió

Project Partners

Daily tous les jours