Arup has completed a new performance venue for the Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana. Named Geode, the design of the open-air acoustical structure draws inspiration from a photograph taken by Robert Doisneau of the cellist Maurice Baquet performing with just a chair and music stand on a mountaintop in Chamonix, France.

Geode measures 18 feet tall at its highest point and is comprised of four triangular structures described as “harmonic polygons.” The polygons are designed to contain sound and reflect it in all directions, while also creating an “intimate and enveloping sonic environment” to protect musicians and the audience from the elements.

“The Geode’s sound-reflecting surfaces are large and close to the ground, creating directed sound reflections and longer reverberation additionally enhanced by the site location with bedrock close to the surface to preserve the bass and mid-frequency sound,” the team explains. “A mellowness is added to the sound by the interior finishing of the surface. Cladding boards have been burned and brushed with a traditional Japanese Yakisugi technique, creating furrows that scatter sound at a higher frequency.”

The structure sits in a natural bowl overlooking the Beartooth Mountains. Having hosted its first performance on August 17th, 2024, Geode joins Tipped Rise’s two existing outdoor performance venues, the Tiara Acoustic Shell and the Domo.