Modern architecture often aims to create a symbiotic relationship between a manmade structure and its surrounding environment – but rarely does it resemble its surroundings so much that it’s almost completely camouflaged.

Such is the case with The Chapel of Sound, a recently completed open-air concert hall near the Great Wall of China outside Beijing. Brought to life by the dynamic firm OPEN Architecture, the towering structure may resemble a pile of rocks, but its elegance and monolithic mien are anything but simple. Situated perfectly within a mountainous valley, the concert hall seems to grow out of the very Earth beneath it, organically shaping itself into the surrounding countryside.

Yet, upon closer inspection, The Chapel Of Sound begins to take shape as its own distinct entity: an open-air amphitheater and outdoor stage meant to amplify acoustics beautifully. Despite its appearance, the hall is not built from piles of rock, but from layers of a truly unique type of concrete. Namely, the material used was itself combined with an aggregate made from local stone. In that sense, the structure is literally was borne of its surroundings, an inherent part of the area’s distinct natural landscape.
OPEN Architecture’s founders Li Hu and Huang Wenjing were very aware of the valley’s unique surroundings when constructing the Chapel of Sound, taking great care to make the structure feel at home. “The symphony of nature is what we really wa...