Aural Architecture: Intangible Spatialities
Michael Augustine Yeow Zhi Wei | Mentor: Christine Yogiaman
An anectdote by Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter in their book “Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?: Experiencing Aural Architecture” illustrates the differences of the perception of space between an individual within a heavy glass box and another in a box wrapped in opaque cloth. The former is able to see his surroundings beyond the confinements of his space, but is unable to hear any of the events occuring outside of the enclosure. On the other hand, the latter only sees pitch black, but can clearly hear everything happening outside of the box. The geometrical and material behaviour of different building materials thus allow them to have differing aural and visual porosities, which in turn affects the sensations experienced within a space.
Inspired by these observations, the thesis project titled “Aural Architecture - Intangible Spatialities” sought to understand the extent that geometry and materials could be manipulated to control the soundscapes of spaces, ultimately working towards methods to design “aural architecture”. The project applied these methods into designing an experimental theatre in Kiev, whereby music rooms were designed based on the amount of reverberation experienced rather than for a set genre of music, and the public spaces would allow for open air performances without interruption from traffic and other ongoing events. Building and room massings designed during this project were evaluated and optimised by a computational model that prioritised acoustic comfort and useability. These massings were exported into Unreal Engine and evaluated based on qualitative feedback of the virtual reality experience of exploring the building in model space.
Comments