Of all its bells and whistles, the focal point of Herzog and de Meuron?s latest successful endeavor, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, is arguably the central auditorium, as explored in this new article by WIRED. An incredible example of the possibilities of parametric design, the hall is comprised of 10,000 individual acoustic panels that line the walls, ceilings, railings and balconies. Each of the panels consists of one million ?cells? of varying dimensions, created to help define the sound within the space.

© Iwan Baan

Of all its bells and whistles, the focal point of Herzog and de Meuron?s latest successful endeavor, the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, is arguably the central auditorium, as explored in this new article by WIRED. An incredible example of the possibilities of parametric design, the hall is comprised of 10,000 individual acoustic panels that line the walls, ceilings, railings and balconies. Each of the panels consists of one million ?cells? of varying dimensions, created to help define the sound within the space.In order to accomplish this feat, Herzog and de Meuron collaborated with renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, and Benjamin Koren of One to One, who created the algorithm responsible for the 10,000 unique panels. ?That?s the power of parametric design,? said Koren. ?Once all of that is in place, I hit play and it creates a million cells, all different and all based on these parameters. I have 100 percent control over setting up the algorit...