This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.

Visitors to Myrtle Tree Garden park in the Chinese city of Xiangyang are now able to step into an interactive soundscape. Built by Vienna and Beijing-based architects Penda, Soundwave consists of 500 perforated steel fins. Its shape is inspired by the highs and lows of musical waveforms.

"Soundwave was inspired by [German writer] Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's famous quote: 'Architecture is frozen music'," says Penda co-founder Chris Precht, 31. To create the sculpture, the team created an algorithm to generate the waveform's undulating shape. "It was programmed in an extensive Grasshopper script, which automatically drew elevation, section, plan, profile and locations for each of the fins," Precht says.

Each of the Soundwave's fins contains an LED lighting system, which is triggered by movement sensors placed throughout the site. Because locals use the park for dance performances and music events, the sculpture is connected to a public sound system; as speakers play traditional Chinese music, the piece reacts with a dancing light display.

Now that Soundwave has been completed, Precht's long-term goal is to develop further pieces that have greater social impact, starting with renovation projects in two rural Chinese villages. "These are not about spectacle, but the fundamentals of life," he says. "Architecture has the possibility to change people's way of living for the better."

This article was originally published by WIRED UK