LightPavilion | design Frans van der Horst and execution Duurt & CO
Festival Classique has its own festival site in the middle of the beach for the first time this year. There is a landmark specially designed for us on this site: LightPavilion.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Frans van der Horst, designer of meeting installations
”LightPavilion is an exuberant meeting installation in which Festival Classique and its audience will come home. A sparkling beacon, anchored on Scheveningen beach. Seen from afar, thin and fleeting in construction, seductive but also protective of the practice of the fine arts. Depending on whether this concerns an opera, concert or intimate recital, the configuration of the scaly shade cloths changes and thus also becomes a setting for the (dramatic) action.
The design and use of materials can evoke different associations:
- the inviting shape and grace of the circle
- the nomadic and temporary character of the music, the festival and the sand
- an architectural peak of the grandeur of the Residence
- a lighthouse for the wandering sailors
- the Camellia
Perhaps the lid of a bonbonnière with a Haags Hopje underneath.
Anyway, an ode to fantasy, the free temporality, but above all the encounter with music and each other.’
Marieke Hopman, artistic director Festival Classique
”As artistic director it is already a treat to bring musicians and beautiful music together, but being able to also build your own festival site is fantastic. The challenge that I faced when I was appointed as artistic leader in 2019 was: how do we bring people together in a festival atmosphere in a busy environment like the beach of Scheveningen where people with ice creams, sand-digging children, sun worshippers and skating youngsters mingle? How do you give focus to a classical music festival at this spot?
The answer was: create your own festival grounds where people gather and feel at home. An iconic landmark that shines above the milling crowds; a look for Festival Classique with which everybody can immediately connect: Great! It’s Festival Classique again! An artwork that all musicians relate to, where they find a setting, play with the sonic universe of nature, the tides, the weather, using the natural forms to unite their performance or concert with the place where they are; which gives us a special signature: Festival Classique, strong at the sea.
This unique landmark has been designed especially for Festival Classique and will have its premiere in a few months. I am very proud of the team of Festival Classique and designer Frans van der Horst with whom we have jointly achieved this!”
