Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Kanta]

Oxyville – The Imagined City

A 360° Sonic and Architectural Proposal

Oxyville is an electronic musical creation inspired by Jean-Michel Jarre’s album Oxymore. Designed in 360° spatialised sound, the opus explores the connection between 3D audio and architectural space, where sound becomes the primary material for building an imaginary city.

Inspired by the disruptive concepts of Luigi Russolo in L’Arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noises, 1913) and later by Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, the work invites the audience to close their eyes in order to experience the structure and dynamics of an architectural space solely through auditory perception.

Sound is thus transformed into a way for designing spaces and architectures, leaving the audience’s imagination to complete and build this utopian city, as architecture and sound share the common characteristic of unfolding in 360°, unlike the visual field, which is limited to 140°.

At the heart of Oxyville lies the idea that acoustics is no longer merely a secondary dimension of spaces, but a central and foundational material. Sounds, noises, and silences shape imaginary spaces that the listener feels by closing their eyes. Sonic textures become tools for perceiving invisible materials and structures. Each spectator, through an act of deep listening, becomes the architect of their own city, translating sounds into one’s own mental images.

The installation offers ten-minute immersive sessions using a dedicated sound spatialisation system used to design virtual spaces. The “intelligent” interactive setup simulates different sonic architectures and serves as a sensory vector, spontaneously stimulating the audience’s imagination to imagine and construct their own utopia.

Oxyville invites audiences to explore a sonic architecture that evolves through contrasting acoustic atmospheres. Shifting from the vast reverberation of a cathedral to the intimate softness of an anechoic chamber, among others, it enables the audience to feel the scale, materials, and textures of the imagined architectural spaces.

With their eyes closed, each spectator becomes an architect, constructing in their mind a unique city shaped by sound and imagination. Oxyville examines how sounds, beyond their musical function, can become the raw materials of a sonic architecture and invites us to reflect on the importance of acoustics in the creation of spaces.

Source: https://oxyville.net/about?fbclid=IwZXh ... clStRb-y5A

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

Source:

[Kanta]

[Richard-Eastham]

I understand he's dusted off the original Oxyville VR world and is relaunching it as an exhibit at the Venice Architecture Biennale. No changes from the 2022 version as far as I can tell.

Looks like I got this wrong. It's a 360 deg sound installation only, no visuals. Close your eyes and think of your own visuals. This is a shame as I thought the original Oxyville visuals - black and white and using elements of old technology to build a city - were impressive and not given nearly enough exposure at the time he was promoting Oxymore.

But I have got the t-shirt! Which is still available

[Oxygene]

I understand he's dusted off the original Oxyville VR world and is relaunching it as an exhibit at the Venice Architecture Biennale. No changes from the 2022 version as far as I can tell.

Looks like I got this wrong. It's a 360 deg sound installation only, no visuals. Close your eyes and think of your own visuals. This is a shame as I thought the original Oxyville visuals - black and white and using elements of old technology to build a city - were impressive and not given nearly enough exposure at the time he was promoting Oxymore.

But I have got the t-shirt! Which is still available

Yes, no visuals. The music is new, but still based on Oxymore. The idea is that the visitors write down comments and details about an imaginary city. An AI is going to create a city out of these comments. There's also a website for it: https://oxyville.net/

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

EVENT
MEET at the Biennale d’Architettura with Oxyville, the sound utopia of Jean-Michel Jarre
At the Venice Architecture Biennale Oxyville, the immersive sound installation signed by Jean-Michel Jarre and Antoin Picon, with the artistic coordination of MEET Digital Culture Center and its founder Maria Grazia Mattei

Sources:
https://www.meetcenter.it/en/?fbclid=Iw ... MulJpKFO2Q
https://www.meetcenter.it/en/event/oxyv ... nale-2025/

[Kanta]

Jean-Michel Jarre, Maria Grazia Mattei (MEET, Digital Culture Center), Antoine Picon
Oxyville is an electronic musical creation designed in 360° sound, exploring the connection between 3D audio and architectural space. Inspired by Luigi Russolo’s The Art of Noises and the works of Pierre Henry and Pierre Schaeffer, Oxyville invites audiences to experience an imaginary city through sound alone.
In Oxyville, acoustics becomes the primary material for designing spaces. Within the installation, the audience is invited to close their eyes, where sounds, noises, and silences shape imaginary structures, allowing listeners to perceive invisible materials and become architects of their own mental cityscapes. The installation offers ten-minute immersive sessions using a dedicated sound spatialisation system, simulating different sonic architectures.
Oxyville takes listeners through contrasting acoustic atmospheres, from cathedral-like reverberations to anechoic chambers. This journey enables the audience to feel the scale, materials, and textures of imagined spaces, turning visitors into the architects of their unique sonic city. Oxyville ultimately invites reflection on the importance of acoustics in space creation and how sounds can become architecture’s raw materials.

Source: https://www.labiennale.org/en/architect ... t/oxyville

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

[Kanta]

MILAN - Jean-Michel Jarre, pioneer of electronic music, translates his conceptual universe into a new field: that of the visual arts.“ Promptitude", its first exhibition, from June 4 to September 7, 2025 at the MEET Digital Culture Center in Milan, is built around an essential principle: using artificial intelligence as a tool for comparing imagination and image.

Source: https://artemagazine.it/limmagine-come- ... a-al-meet/

[Kanta]