OVERTONE
SANTA MONICA, CAOvertone is a music school and performance center designed for the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA). The project explores how architecture can foster connections between music, community, and environment through openness, visibility, and shared experience. Conceived as both an educational institution and a civic destination, Overtone transforms the act of learning and performing music into a public experience that engages the city.
The building is organized into four programmatic quadrants arranged around a central courtyard and unified beneath a single large roof. This courtyard serves as the heart of the project, creating visual and physical connections between rehearsal spaces, classrooms, performance venues, and public gathering areas. Transparency and porosity throughout the building allow students, visitors, and performers to remain connected to one another, making the process of music education visible and accessible.
At the core of the project is the idea of a breathing building. Overtone establishes a thermal hierarchy through a series of nested spaces that transition between interior and exterior conditions. Rather than relying on sealed environments, the architecture incorporates operable facades, open circulation zones, and shaded gathering spaces that encourage natural ventilation and environmental responsiveness. These layered thresholds create a sequence of spaces that continuously exchange air, light, sound, and activity, allowing the building to adapt to changing climates and patterns of use.
The main performance hall and rehearsal hall are designed to open directly onto the central courtyard, extending performances beyond their conventional boundaries. Together, these spaces can merge with the courtyard to form a larger venue for concerts, events, and public gatherings. The courtyard becomes an urban stage where music spills into the city and the public becomes part of the performance experience.
More than a school, Overtone is envisioned as a cultural framework that supports both young musicians and the broader community. By creating a network of interconnected spaces that breathe, expand, and engage with their surroundings, the project reimagines the music school as an open civic landscape where learning, performance, and public life exist in harmony.
In collaboration with Luis Brito
FACADE DETAIL DRAWINGS
CENTRAL OPEN-AIR COURTYARD
SOUTH ENTRANCE
MODEL PHOTOGRAPH
MODEL PHOTOGRAPH
MODEL PHOTOGRAPH
INTERIOR RENDERINGS: ELEVATED WALKWAY + FLEXIBLE REHEARSAL HALL
INTERIOR RENDERINGS: ELEVATED WALKWAY + FLEXIBLE REHEARSAL HALL
OVERTONE PROPOSAL - SECTION PERSPECTIVE
DETAILED CHUNKS
BUILDING PLANS