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UMKC class finds music in architecture

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Wednesday, 04 March 2009 00:00
An architecture class at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has put legendary composer Johann Sebastian Bach in a box.
In Ted Seligson’s Architectural Design Studio I class, there is a common project the professor likes to give called Bach in a Box.
Seligson, who designed Bartle Hall, is one of the most recognized architects in the last 40 years in Kansas City. Before his work as an architect, he said he was an accomplished musician and always has been interested in classical music, part of how the project came about.
“I had toyed with the idea that music and architecture are two of the closest related arts in the humanities,” Seligson said. “I went into it a little and the language we talk in architecture is similar to that of a composer.”
For the past 15 years Seligson has given the project to many of his classes. The directive to the 22 students in the current class is rather simple – using balsa wood, design a box or cube that represents one of two Bach compositions.
Students had a week to complete the assignment and the results are varied and complex. From cascading pieces of wood to more earthy designs, the students’ efforts were hardly similar.
“They were not to make it look like a music notation,” Seligson said. “It was supposed to be how they viewed it. They had to translate the sound to the project. It’s a fun project, but they were very serious about it.”
Like almost every design project the students complete, a jury helps critique the Bach in a Box projects. Frank Byrne, Kansas City Symphony executive director, served as a judge, along with Jacob Wagner, planning professor at UMKC, and Brian Gross, a Helix Architects principal.
Seligson said Byrne liked the project so much he invited the students to attend a free symphony performance.
The architecture portion of the Architecture, Urban Planning and Design Department is one of the more rigorous courses of study. Seligson said most students spend about 30 to 40 hours a week working on projects.
“This building never closes,” Seligson said. “You will always find students in here working at late hours.”
Since the University of Missouri system has no complete architecture program, UMKC has aligned with Kansas State University. Students attend two years at UMKC and then transfer to K-State to complete about three more years of study to earn their degrees. Seligson said K-State is recognized as one of the top 10 architecture schools in the country.
The importance of projects such as Bach in a Box, Seligson said, is students use them to progress their knowledge and hold onto that knowledge as they enter the work force.
“I personally was in the profession,” Seligson said. “I did Bartle Hall. I did big things here in Kansas City. All of them were cutting edge. I feel you have to have this stuff. Most schools have something like that. The ideals here like in Bach in a Box are something that if you really wanted to get down into it, you could do scholarly work on it.”

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