A groundbreaking architectural project has opened in Switzerland's Toggenburg Valley, transforming how visitors experience music and sound. The Klanghaus Toggenburg, which translates to "Sound House," is not a traditional concert hall or music pavilion, but rather a walkable musical instrument that allows people to step inside and become part of the musical experience.
The innovative structure was originally conceived by renowned architect Marcel Meili, with the firm Staufer & Hasler Architects from Frauenfeld continuing development after Meili's death in 2019. Construction began in 2022 with a total investment of 23.3 million Swiss francs, culminating in the facility's opening in May 2025. The Toggenburg Valley in the Canton of St. Gallen is recognized as the heart of Swiss folk music, though it has also faced challenges as a structurally disadvantaged region.
The project's genesis traces back to the 1990s when composer and sound researcher Peter Roth established the Klangwelt Toggenburg (Sound World Toggenberg), offering courses in regional musical traditions. These included natural yodeling, the Alpsegen (alpine blessing songs that echo across summer pastures), and hackbrett playing, where strings are struck with wooden mallets. The success of these programs, initially held in an uninspiring hotel location by Lake Schwendisee, sparked the desire for a purpose-built facility.
The path to realization proved characteristically Swiss in its complexity. In 2008, the canton commissioned Peter Zumthor for the planning, but colleagues protested the decision as a violation of public procurement regulations. This led to a unique "thesis competition" in early 2010, where participants had to visualize and personally present their design strategy on a maximum of ten A4 pages. Meili's proposal triumphed over submissions from internationally acclaimed firms including SANAA, Steven Holl, and Caruso St. John.
Meili's winning concept, developed in collaboration with sound artist Andres Bosshard and room acoustician Martin Lachmann, featured a three-armed structure with an introverted central space and three wings opening toward the landscape. The parabolic form functions as a natural amplifier, carrying sounds into the surrounding valley. As Meili articulated in his thesis, the building's acoustics could be controlled through wood materials, with three resonator gates dominating the interior space and forming a distorted hexagonal hall that can open to the landscape through adjacent rooms.
Following extensive political persuasion and significant advocacy from Klangwelt representatives, the team of Astrid Staufer and Thomas Hasler successfully implemented Meili's vision. The resulting wooden structure contains four main rooms with varying acoustic atmospheres, complemented by two outdoor stages for open-air musical experiments. Every wall is clad in traditional regional wooden shingles, and notably, none of the walls are straight – their curved lines are specifically designed to support sound formation in the landscape, reflecting how Toggenburg folk music originally developed in natural settings.
The facility serves as a sound workshop for both professional musicians and amateurs, providing spaces for rehearsals, courses, workshops, and symposiums. A comprehensive book titled "Resonances," published by Lars Müller Publishers, explains the building's unique potential and acoustic properties. The Sound House represents more than just an architectural achievement; it embodies a commitment to preserving and promoting regional musical heritage while attracting cultural tourists to the area between the dramatic mountain panoramas of Säntis and Churfirsten.
This innovative approach to architectural acoustics demonstrates how traditional folk music traditions can be celebrated and preserved through cutting-edge design. The Klanghaus Toggenburg stands as a testament to the power of collaboration between architects, sound specialists, and cultural preservationists in creating spaces that honor musical heritage while pushing the boundaries of what a musical venue can be.
