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Studies are being carried out that suggest that the brain uses vibration (touch) and frequency (sound waves), in a manner that unites these two senses. This means that if a person is good at sensing touch vibrations, then they are also good at hearing sound frequencies — and vice versa. Thus, the senses of touch and sound in architecture are linked, and you as an architect can use this information to make your building designs even better.

I would like to think that architects today are factoring human senses, so that at various points within their design, occupants are invited to use their senses — in a holistic and harmonic way, making architecture greater than the sum of its parts. This is an advantage to designing with the senses in mind, where your architecture can speak to its occupants through different languages and on many levels. And the amazing finding here is that those sensory languages are related to one another in unexpected ways, where your occupants can “feel sound”. (1)

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Of course, this immediately highlights the importance of paying attention during design phases to the sound and touch senses (and not solely relying on the visual sense to realize your design vision). Additionally, these findings also illustrate how you should not treat each of the senses as separate entities within your design, but rather as different languages that speak to one another, play off of one another and help each other out to paint a clearer picture about what is experientially happening.

In order to make best use of such findings that link the senses together, I would start by asking yourself questions about your building project design, like…

3 Key Questions to Ask Yourself That Can Increase Your Design’s Potential

1. Do any mechanical systems or electrical systems within the building create physical vibrations and/or noise frequencies that interfere with ongoing activities and behaviors that your occupants engage in? Very simply, this could mean that a loud HVAC system, for example, might interfere with inter-office communication within an office building. Or perhaps, certain building vibrations seem to amplify ambient sounds making it more difficult to concentrate along with increased stress while working.
2. I would also ask yourself about what opportunities you have been missing in your designs by not thinking about the senses as related to one another. Perhaps there is a great opportunity within your museum design, for instance, to create a meaningful and memorable point about a certain exhibit or cultural emphasis. By appealing to different sensory modalities, your occupants will better connect and engage with their surroundings — by better absorbing, interacting and remembering that which they learn in your buildings.
3. Another time to consider the overlapping between the senses of touch and sound in architecture is when creating an event design either within your long-standing building project or within your one-time event installation. In either case, it can be extremely powerful to take advantage of multiple sensory languages within your design — just imagine a theater, stadium or arena design. Of course, in these cases many designers already do consider the visual with acoustic to create amazing effects. But what about those vibration frequencies felt by an audience? And will what they physically touch right around them affect their perception of the event that is live on the somewhat distant stage.

Additionally, it is helpful to consider that where your occupants hear something, they will have increased sensitivity to feeling something by touching, such as an architectural building material. To explain more about how this works, please read the following excerpt from Devin Powell’s article:

“Other researchers have shown that hearing a sound can boost touch sensitivity. […] Frequency may be a two-way street in the brain that unites these two senses, says Jeffrey Yau, a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. A vibration that has a higher or lower frequency than a sound, he found, tends to skew pitch perception up or down. Sounds can also bias whether a vibration is perceived.” (1)

Image: Marcus Vegas | Flickr

Touch and Sound in Architecture Can Strengthen Your Building Design Intent

So to make your architectural space the best it can be, consider how your occupants sense it through their different modalities — but do not just consider them separately from one another. Think about how each affects the other, where in this case touch affects hearing and hearing affects touch. Then you can consider what happens when your occupant sees and hears at the same time. Ask yourself if what they hear complements what they see or what they feel through touch. If they are not strategically designed with that in mind, a lack of harmonization can deter your design vision from being realized by your occupant. So, be careful not to reduce the beauty or effectiveness of your design, and thus, make it more difficult for your occupant to function healthfully within it. Think of the different sensory modalities as you design to better achieve your overall design intent and potential.

(1) Powell, Devin. What it means to Feel the Noise – Scientists Explore Overlapping Sensations of Sound, Touch. Science News. May 26, 2011.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by clicking on the “re-tweet” and “like” button at the beginning of this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

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When we experience space by traveling through it, we interact with it affecting its acoustical behaviors in what can be unintentional ways — but what if an architectural design could make its occupants think more carefully about how they move through built space, where their movements yield more intentional acoustic behaviors? Instead of aural experience always being something that seems to happen in the background (from an occupant’s perceptual point of view), why not make it a part of the interplay between building and occupant that not only informs occupants, but also promotes enjoyment, awareness, and/or goal oriented cues.

Of course, within architectural space there is rarely just one person that occupies it. So often, occupants must make use of collaboration and teamwork, as well as help to foster a sense of community and enjoyment while engaging interactively within a building. Take, for instance, a museum where visitors may be educated by exhibitions both individually and through interactive collaborative learning moments. Within such a building, exhibits might use tools like what you will see in the following video, where interactive musical instruments can be coordinated on the fly by willing participants. I think this has merit because if this concept were to be taken further, museum visitors would have more of an immersive and social cooperative learning experience about a subject — where they could draw their own learning conclusions, work toward a goal, and learn from others as they work together with them in real-time. To give you a basic idea of how such an interactive collaborative design might work, take a look at this video:

How Acoustic Behavior Can Expand Spatial Boundaries

As you can see, occupants can take a more proactive role in “tuning” their own built environment in real time. For instance, what if a similar installation were to be located in a school to yield a new type of performance which students could literally create. Suddenly, their actions within a given space could help them to engage with not only themselves and their instrument, but also their fellow classmates who are also playing an instrument. So, once their collective abilities reached a certain level, their musical performance could be broadcast within a certain area of the school (or room) so they could take pride in what they have achieved, entertain their fellow classmates, and also entice them to come and create their own musical masterpieces, which they, too, can broadcast once they reach a certain level (or goal). Thus, collective interactive sensorial experiences can help individuals greatly. Just think interactive sensorial teamwork learning — and you can substitute the subject of music for a variety of other subjects as well.

In the end, I think it is quite interesting that an architectural space, when leveraging its sensorial stimuli, can use occupant actions and interplay to stimulate their independent thinking through collective intelligence. What other applications like this might you embed within your design work? And how might your final built environments elevate the level of thinking, interplay and community for its occupants?

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter and Facebook followers by clicking on the “re-tweet” and “like” button at the beginning of this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

It is time to revisit walls, by really looking at them in section, and understanding how easily walls can turn into the ceilings, floors and transient windows. For this reason, I love the following image which shows you very clearly one way in which an architectural product called Metamorphosis Shimmer (by Philips Design) can make a simple, elegant and multifaceted design for kinetic architecture.

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Here is what Philips Design says when describing their Metamorphosis Shimmer product:

“Shimmer is an architectural product concept designed to facilitate well-being through surprise, movement, natural noise management, air movement and natural light dispersion.
The „stripes‟ are based on flexible elements that emit natural light and channel air. They can transform to change the interior characteristics of a space in response to people and the atmospheric/lighting conditions outside.
The elements of the system are a composite laminate consisting of a light diffusing material; air/vapor capillary system, flexible audio membrane and structural and decorative elements. Space is transformed as the „stripe‟ elements are flexed, changing the volume, affecting the airflow and the sound characteristics. The tension is altered by a system of cables connected to small motors with a gearbox, allowing natural light conditions to be transported from the outside into the interior space.”

The Convergence of Many Transient Designs Working Together

I would like to show you the following video as a source of great inspiration to get you thinking about what can be achieved by injecting kinetics into the equation by which you design. As you will see, a unification of the senses to improve lifestyle for people can help them not only live healthier but in greater harmony with each other and our planet.

In the video below, the visualizations for future designs include many interesting and different ideas, going beyond the Shimmer project I talked about earlier. As you watch it, try to imagine a world where many of these transient designs adapt to your occupants and other surrounding conditions and situations — where not only one kinetic installation makes all the difference, but the harmony and balance between multiple and layered kinetics working together is what really has the potential to bring the human standard of living to a much better level (while also being in greater harmony with the planet).

Here is the video entitled — Philips Design’s latest Design Probe “Metamorphosis”:

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

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When taking a closer look at the relationship between music and the theater in which it is played, the composer becomes a pivotal link between the two that provides some intriguing insight into ways that architecture shapes its occupants.

As architects, we like to think that we shape architecture — but as most of us know it also shapes us. The relationship between adaptation and environment often works both ways, and for this reason, I encourage you to watch the following video where David Byrne will take you through the evolution of music, and the strong role theaters and other “venues” play, as the space “surrounding” a performance actually becomes its extension.

In particular, look for his juxtaposition between the way music has developed to fit particular venues of its time, and how birds from different regions and geographic environments actually evolve to develop different bird calls. As you will soon learn by watching the video below, David Byrne paints a picture of not only why architecture is significant in uplifting the lives of its occupants through sound, but also will get you thinking about ways you can enhance your architecture by knowing full well that you are creating a context that your occupants will need to inadvertently fit into, as much as it will need to fit them.

Here is the video entitled How Architecture Helped Music Evolve:

What Does This Mean for Your Designs?

After watching the above video, you are probably left with a better understanding as to why the design of architecture is so critical to not only help people be more functional, but to also help entire cultures to evolve. It is as if architecture is both a thumbprint of a person or a culture, while also serving as a vessel within which a person or a culture can develop and thrive. And a key component that makes all of this happen are the senses with sensorial stimuli, like sound through music.

Thus, by understanding more about sensory design, your architecture will stand a better chance of growing, learning and evolving with its occupants, by not only fitting them now, but also helping them to realize their future through context. As your occupants use your building either for an hour, for decades or over many generations, it must meet their needs on many levels — intellectually, emotionally, physiologically, behaviorally and spiritually. And still, the senses play a large role on all of these.

In order to do all of this well as an architect, it will often help to delve into how the human senses absorb, process and actuate stimuli. By getting a richer understanding of this, you will equip yourself to create designs that grow and evolve — to actually become an extended “instrument” with which not only musicians and composers create and perform music, but also with which occupants can realize a better extension of themselves as they experience each moment of every day.

Please Tell Me What You Think

I would really like to get your feedback on my post today, so please leave me a comment in the form below. And if you enjoyed it, make sure you share it with your Twitter followers by “tweeting” it using the re-tweet button on this page.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Norebbo | Dreamstime

We all know that computer technology has done a lot to advance not only the way the design process can work, but also to improve the constructed outcome of that design process.

That’s why I think it’s important to shed some light on what “aural renderings” can do. (1) You, as an architect, can actually listen to a designed space as built to the parameters of your three dimensional CAD model. Here is a detailed description of the process that goes into creating such an aural rendering:

A 3-D model of the space is built using CAD software, and this model is transferred to an acoustical modeling software package. The acoustical consultant assigns acoustical properties to the modeled room’s surfaces (or potential construction materials) and places sound sources and listener locations. The software then calculates the propagation of sound from the source to the listener using algorithms based on ray-tracing combined with statistical reverberation calculation and other techniques to account for sound scattering and diffraction. The calculated room impulse responses are then convolved with audio material that has been recorded anechoically – in a space free from echoes or reflections – to generate a realistic and listenable result (a piano recital, a busy wedding banquet, or a ceremonial speech as it will sound in the yet-to-be-built space). (1)

EXPERIENCING YOUR BUILDING BEFORE YOUR OCCUPANTS DO

Yes, you can visualize your building’s design and perhaps its final outcome, but so many variables are at play once the building is constructed. Can you be certain that your designed spaces will not only function, but also feel the way you intend?

Simulation technologies can be an extremely helpful tool to you during your design phases. And they can be quite valuable as you must make many decisions during those phases to produce a quality architectural design that realizes your vision.

For instance, the aural qualities to a space may not be so evident in a fly-thru animation; however, an aural rendering may make that space come alive in a way the fly-thru does not. As you know, different modeling techniques can inform you of different things.

As technology develops with new ways to “visualize” your complex architectural designs, wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to fuse them together? Why not visually render a space capturing its light levels at a specific time of day while also aurally rendering how it will sound during a specific function?

Really, the possibilities (and opportunities) become endless. The key is to pull the best of what technology has to offer so you are informed with vital information that helps you make great design decisions.

Don’t use computer technology as a crutch, but strive to push the boundary with them.

(1) Sacks, Jonah & Pieleanu, Ioana. Technology Transforms Architectural Drawings into Aural Renderings. Architechweb.com. September 2009.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

VIDEO REVIEW

Brian Blosser explores issues of spatialization where users can move sounds around them throughout an entire space. You can see in Blosser’s demonstration that 9 sound objects (represented by 9 circles) each represent a specific bell tone. As a user moves an active circle/bell tone object, the bell actually sounds like it is moving around in space. The medley of all 9 bell objects moving in space results in an actual feeling of being in a bell tower.

Blosser’s project is nice to see because so often interactive displays are limited to a free-standing object within a space or adjacent to it. This Bell Tower project uses sound to make use of an entire space, giving it acoustic form and dimension through interactive sound – all while also giving the user control so they can play or manipulate the qualities of their space through sound.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Have you come across any interactive designs that make use of an entire space? What made them work? Where did they fall short? What are your ideas for an interactive design that would give users control of an entire space?

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

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Architectural design requires that acoustics be well thought out and coordinated. The sound spectrum must remain clear without portions distorted or missing. The paper, Acoustics and Sound Systems in Architectural Design, emphasizes how acousticians should be part of the design team early on. The author describes how it is important to avoid overlapping sound waves that project into a common space – this interference is what can distort the sound spectrum.(1)

The following are 7 additional design tips to achieve the best architectural acoustics within a space. These principles highlight some of the most informative ideas found within Acoustics and Sound Systems in Architectural Design for best aural experience.

1) Watch out for SOUND REFLECTIONS. Straight surfaces reflect sounds back into the central space making sound clarity muddy.

2) Select ACOUSTICAL TREATMENT carefully. Different materials absorb sound frequencies differently. Make sure your acoustical treatments are absorbing the right sound frequencies.

3) Diminish ECHOES when necessary. Be aware that sounds traveling within 30 milliseconds of each other are perceived without echo. Sounds traveling after the 30 millisecond threshold become echoes of the original sound.

4) Don’t let other building systems get in the way. NOISE CONTROL is important to keep in check as other building systems (like HVAC systems) operate. Keep such clashing noises to a minimum.

5) Keep objects or other OBSTRUCTIONS out of the way. Objects that obstruct a sound path can block high frequency sounds. (Low frequency sounds can bend around objects.)

6) Get good PATTERN CONTROL. Make sure sound systems for a room get good sound coverage. This will prevent feed-back and other sound distortions.

7) For out-of-the-way listening areas get DISTRIBUTED SOUND SYSTEMS. Such “delay-fill” speakers operate with an electronic delay so the sound matches and is synchronized.

In the end, it is important to make sure that the architectural acoustics match the architectural function and aesthetic value of a particular project. I remember visiting a hospital where the TV sound was obstructed by an HVAC vent. That simple sound collision can make for quite an uncomfortable hospital stay. Similarly, you should make certain that sound travels only when you want it to. Office conversations that needlessly travel to employee office spaces can be quite a distraction.

Involve your acoustician early and coordinate design efforts to avoid uncomfortable and sometimes painful aural sensations. Architectural acoustics are important beyond auditoriums, theaters and religious spaces.

(1) Kamlet, Rick. Acoustics and Sound Systems in Architectural Design. Archi-Tech. April 2005.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

Image: Ptoone | Dreamstime

Have you ever toyed with the notion of designing a space strictly based on sound quality? Perhaps acoustics have played a major role in certain projects where sound formulas served to construct space. But — what about “aural architecture”? It becomes interesting to understand what happens to architecture beyond physics. When experienced via our auditory senses, architecture gains another dimension that significantly influences occupants. In the book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening, the authors describe how aural spaces evoke feelings and emotions as occupants listen.

Interestingly, the authors describe how sound serves to connect or even isolate humans dependant upon there proximity to noise levels, a specific sound source or other people. Humans use their sense of hearing to understand space. Sound works together with the other senses to help people navigate and construct understanding of forms, objects and distances.(1) Thus, the auditory quality of an architectural space is quite important.

There is no doubt that when architecture tailors itself to the human senses its effects have great impact. The interplay between aural and visual architecture, for instance, can create powerful spatial experiences. In an interview with the authors of Spaces Speak, it was said that “extensive observations of ancient sites support the notion that wall art and acoustics were deliberately related rather than accidents.” Thus, the caves of Lascaux are prime examples of how bison images reflect the strong echoes found in the chambers. It is thought that the echoes were reminiscent of the “hoof beats” made by bison when passing.(1)

Yes, aural characteristics found within architecture often stir emotions. Accordingly, we use our sense of hearing to bond with other people as well as to enjoy space. Just imagine religious buildings, office buildings, music halls, restaurants or even residential spaces. For occupants to share a space they, frequently, must share their experiences – and sound is often a primary feature which unites them. Simply stated, if an event is out of earshot, then an occupant may not even be aware that they need to pay attention.

As architecture evolves, auditory designs will likely become more elaborate. Beyond music halls and religious institutions, sound design should do more than help occupants reconstruct space; sound design should help occupants truly interact with their surroundings. Designing with sound can bring about just as many spatial arrangements as designing with visual ques. The trick is to know how to synthesize such stimuli into a composition for multiple senses. Occupants will then have the richest of architectural experiences.

(1) Blesser, Barry & Salter, Linda-Ruth. Spaces Speak, Are you Listening? Experiencing Aural Architecture. MIT Press. 2006.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman