A new physical approximation of synaesthesia has been installed in a building towering over downtown Shenzhen, China, that visualises music downloads in real time.

A8 Music Group brought in architecture studio UNIT to design the prismatic high-rise structure, which is shaped like sound waves and features an LED lighting system built into the exterior. As A8 users download music, the tower will visualise the sound waves of those files - rather like your iTunes player but on a grand scale. This custom surface effectively turns the company's website into a composer itself, one which shares its compositions with the city around it.

Furthering the notion of synaesthesia, a condition described as a union of the senses, the LEDs on the building’s facade are organised like a Scriaban keyboard where each musical tone is associated with a colour. Utilising this method, UNIT and A8 are able to bring to life the usually invisible data of sound and internet files - a perfect response to A8’s brief that saw the company ask for a tower which embodies its function.