The Biwako Hall Center for the Performing Arts Shiga, opened in September of 1998.
The Main Theatre, has 1,848 sets, and can hold professional opera performances. It is also known across the country as one of the leading opera houses in Japan.
The audience seating was designed specially for the Main Theatre. The seats have thick legs which rise straight up, and backs which are thick, and yet built to have gently curving lines and a sense of sturdiness. They lend themselves well to establishing the look of this classical theatre, well suited for large performances like operas or symphonies.
For gorgeously resonating sound, materials must reflect sound, and they also must absorb it in appropriate amounts. For this, the typical approach is to include sound absorbing materials in the interior of the space, including in the walls and ceiling, but in the Main Theatre this sound absorption is achieving through the seating. When the seats are unoccupied, the seat and the back don’t come together, and a small gap is left between the two instead. Through careful calculations and planning, this space is designed to prevent the sound from reflecting excessively, and instead to make the sound easier to hear.
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