Harmony at London Wall Place

Co-commissioned by Culture Mile and Brookfield Properties, Harmony at London Wall Place is a series of augmented reality artworks that bring the City of London to life, with visuals and music from Guildhall School of Music & Drama and London Symphony Orchestra.


Students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama have been mentored by musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) to compose newly-commissioned music as part of a site specific immersive experience at London Wall Place.


The compositions, performed by soloists from the LSO, form part of an augmented reality installation featuring 3D animation overlaid onto the feed of a user’s phone camera.


The four artworks have been installed at distinct zones across London Wall Place: the Medieval St Alphage’s ruins, the One London Wall Place water feature, Salters’ Gardens and the Highwalks. Each one is intrinsically connected to the specific site and the nature of the environment they’re set within, with each music piece featuring a solo acoustic instrumental part – flute, trombone, viola and clarinet.


The AR artworks were produced by Guildhall Live Events, directed by Dan Shorten alongside Eleisha Brand, Amelia Kosminsky and Giovanni Rossi.


Additional information on the four AR pieces
ONE LONDON WALL PLACE WATER FEATURE - Stillness & Movement
The artwork extracts an imagined underwater world above the water’s surface, with visuals cascading into the air in swirling, shimmering patterns to create a calm and reflective feeling in visitors. Inspired by the location’s clean, straight lines and soft, gentle reflections, the organic movement on the rippling water’s surface is echoed in the pace and rhythm of the movement of the animations. The accompanying music piece is by Will Davenport, featuring a viola instrumental part.


SALTERS’ GARDENS - Natural & Constructed
The artwork is inspired by the layout of the gardens, with its carefully constructed lines and shapes between pathways and flowerbeds used as a cue to generate linear geometric patterns and structures in the animation. Floral, organic elements are elegantly intertwined within these geometric patterns, mirroring the modern buildings that surround the space. The accompanying music piece is by Jasmine Meadon, featuring a flute instrumental part.


ST. ALPAHGE’S RUINS - Ancient & Modern
The artwork explicitly disrupts the space it is situated in by highlighting the age of the ruins and their surroundings by using overtly contemporary graphic design to contrast the presence of something ancient and unyielding with constantly evolving abstract shapes and particle systems that cross and divide the space. The arched doorways act as portals to other locations or times, with the animations changing and evolving as they move through them. The accompanying music piece is by Nicola Perikhanyan, featuring a clarinet instrumental part.


HIGHWALKS - Air & Earth
The artwork portrays the sensation of elevating energy up from the ground and moving freely through the air, inspired by the pedestrian use of the pathways. Grounded and heavy elements are rooted into the path, such as stone and metal emerging from and in between the pavement, giving a sense of power, strength and stability. More delicate shapes, objects and textures form out of this foundation to rise up into the sky, with clean, geometric shapes at ground level becoming more organic and softer as they rise. The accompanying music piece is by Sam Dinley, featuring a trombone instrumental part.