Created for Budapest’s House of Music, an interactive pavement pays tribute to Hungary’s musical legacy. At the center of the artwork is the Cimbalom, a stringed instrument invented in Budapest in 1874. People walk a tune, play their own games, or dance, creating ever-evolving contemporary compositions with traditional sounds.

The Cimbalom Circle system has 36 interactive units embedded in concrete tiles, each including a sensor and a responsive light ring. Place your foot, wheel, or hand on a sensor to play a note. Tap multiple sensors to play arpeggios. Explore alone or with others to compose many melodies – the rhythms depend on the distance between the sensors played. Step on one sensor, then another, then another and create a loop, drawing patterns of music and light with your feet. Music emanates from the ground as if by magic. The sound system comprises custom speaker tiles developed with no visible hardware, made to resist outdoor conditions and blend into the pavement pattern.

Cimbalom Circle is part of Daily’s Musical Pavement series that brings a new musical dimension to cities. These artworks live permanently in urban architecture, stimulating the emergence of new gathering habits and opportunities for a wide audience to play music together. As people play along, inhibitions are lost and spontaneous performances take place.