Venelin Kokalov, Revery Architecture

When given the opportunity of designing a piano for the lobby of the Burrard & Nelson project, we wanted to approach the design for the piano in the same way we approach the design of our buildings. We design experiences. Whether it is a tower or a piano, we see our designs as the framework around which personal experiences are formed. We attempt to evoke the human spirit, in recognition that our designs can only be as good as the interactions they inspire.

When given the opportunity to design a piano for the lobby of The Butterfly, we sought to capture the same experiential qualities inherent in the design of the tower itself. The lightness of the legs and rails echo the open garden breezeways, while its delicately sculpted geometry recalls the soft undulations of the tower’s skin, abstracted from the surrounding landscapes. Along the path of the piano’s design, four Alexander McQueen dresses, the Oyster Dress, Widows of Culloden, Voss and Sarabande were layered into the process, serving as a foil and a counterpoint for the instrument’s emerging form. Each of these dresses are in their own right a vessel of expression and each exemplify artistry in a different, yet parallel medium. We challenged ourselves to weave together these complementary inspirations, in order to create a framework through which our stories could be told.

The resulting piano speaks of the space it inhabits and embodies the influence of many artistic mediums. Conceived as an empty vessel, it is intended to be filled with new encounters and free to be titled by each individual, with every encounter. The designers invite the pianist to sculpt their audience’s perceptions with each performance, and hope every listener will freely attach their own associations to the piano and the building in which it resides, as the music plays.