David Byrne will turn a New York building into a giant musical instrument.

The ex-Talking Heads frontman has had pillars and heating and water pipes added to Manhattan's Battery Maritime Building that will produce sound when struck or exposed to wind and vibrations.

Byrne explained that this isn't the first time he has transformed a building for a musical exhibition.

"A few years ago I was invited to do an exhibition at a place called Färgfabriken in Stockholm - a Kunsthalle in a former factory," Byrne wrote on his website.

He added: "I went and looked at the space and later made a menu of proposals that ranged from conventional stuff on walls to a giant microwave oven to a facial recognition software piece to the project that got presented - Playing the Building."