GHOSTS OF THE VILLA
When a building starts to speak again
Some buildings preserve history. Others tell it.
With ‘Ghosts of the Villa’, the legendary Villa Louvigny in Luxembourg — the former home of Radio Luxembourg — became a storyteller in its own right.
Where Europe’s first cross-border radio station once made history, where Serge Gainsbourg, the Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead performed live, where Luxembourgish, French, English, German and Dutch studios broadcast side by side — today, voices, music, memories and architecture merge to create an immersive spatial experience.
The exhibition was sold out shortly after it opened and was extended by almost a month due to high demand.
The Challenge
The task was not to bring historical content to life through sound, but to give a building back its voice.
To this end, we advised Samsa Film on the development of the spatial sound concept, produced the usomo app and installed the usomo system at Villa Louvigny.
Visitors move freely through the space — 410 square metres, 45 minutes, four languages. With every step, the listening experience changes.
Archive recordings, legendary DJs, pop and rock music, and personal memories of former listeners weave together to form a unique journey through the history of a radio station that shaped European media and music culture for decades. Around 60 oral history interviews — with DJs, presenters, listeners from across Europe and figures such as Jean-Claude Juncker and Jacques Santer — form the core of the content.
There is no set route. Each visitor explores the villa at their own pace — and experiences their own personal version of the same story. Not at all a traditional exhibition — a spatial memory.
The Resonance
The Luxembourg City Film Festival presented ‘Ghosts of the Villa’ as part of its Immersive Pavilion — a curated selection of international works showcasing new forms of immersive storytelling. This invitation places the project well beyond Luxembourg’s borders, bringing it into the international discourse on the future of immersive experiences.
Historian and co-curator Dominique Santana describes the project’s aim as an attempt to reconnect people with the fragments of what Radio Luxembourg once stood for — and to keep this cultural heritage alive for future generations.
“Every step unlocks a new story in this immersive experience that brings Villa Louvigny to life.” — University of Luxembourg, C²DH
‘Ghosts of the Villa’ exemplifies how usomo understands sound not merely as an accompaniment to an exhibition, but as an independent medium of remembrance.
History is not explained. It is experienced.
