Syntony (2020)

Syntony was Montenegro’s official pavilion for the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, created by Dr Vasilija Abramovic (MNE), Dr Ruairi Glynn (IRE), and Parker Heyl (USA). The project was selected through an international competition.

Derived from the Greek syn (together) and tonos (tone or voice), syntony describes resonance—when multiple frequencies align in harmony. The pavilion explored this concept both scientifically and socially, as a metaphor for transdisciplinary collaboration. Responding to curator Dr Svetlana Perović’s call to stage an “experiment” around the Biennale’s central theme How Will We Live Together?, the team proposed a new model of architectural practice—one grounded in exchange rather than extraction between disciplines.

Developed through collaborations across neuroscience, robotics, psychology, computing, lighting, and acoustics, Syntony manifested as a series of interactive laboratories exploring motion, light, and sound. Visitors would enter responsive environments where automated sensing systems gathered data and generated waveforms that visualised the flow of perception. The kinetic Motion Perception Lab was intended to reveal how architectural space could resonate—literally and conceptually—with the shared frequencies of art, science, and technology.

Regrettably, the onset of the global pandemic in 2020 led to the postponement of the Biennale, and Montenegro ultimately withdrew its participation before the exhibition opened.