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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)

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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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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

Image: dps | Flickr

Image: dps | Flickr

The big challenge for architects designing concert halls is to design the architectural acoustics to meet the needs of varying musical styles. (1)

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM CONCERT HALL DESIGN

The design challenge of a concert hall is at first glance contradictory — to foster closeness and, yet, to surround listeners with the life and essence of a music’s sound.

Different levels of intimacy and aliveness vary depending on music style. What makes this even more difficult is that, intimacy and aliveness are very difficult to quantify — thus, design for. (1)

Such contradictions exist in other architecture types. For instance, hospitals must design to cater to as many patient needs as possible while striving to keep hospital costs low. In office buildings, the need for both individual work and team work is vital – the contradiction surfaces when considering how interconnected the two should be.

SOLVING FOR CONTRADICTIONS

Timing is everything (well, almost.)

A great hospital design could, in fact, help to meet just the right patient needs at just the right time in their healing process. This yields faster recovery and; thus, less hospital cost since patients stay for less time.

The secret is not to meet every patient need, whether they need it or not, but to meet individual patient needs at just the right time and in just the right way.

The key is to fine tune your design so you can orchestrate not just how it works, but when it works.

Instead of trying to solve two separate problems, find where they might interrelate — often, by getting to the root of each problem, you will uncover that the two are not as far apart as you once thought.

Often, what may seem to be a contradiction is really not.

(1) Thompson, Craig. Architectural Acoustics. Illumin.usc.edu.

© 2008-2011 Sensing Architecture by Maria Lorena Lehman

“HOW WILL THAT SOUND?”

Architectural acoustics are an important part of architectural design. Architects should be asking themselves “how will that sound?” throughout the design process. That is why the tool “LISTEN” has potential to positively impact the architectural design process. By allowing architects to analyze and trial listen to environments, built works can be aurally simulated to hear how they would sound in reality.

BUILDING AN AURAL 3D MODEL

The aural simulation project called “LISTEN” is a simulation for the design of aural environments. By using this tool, architects would be able to make 3D models (with selected building materials) to help them listen to their design’s architectural acoustics.

“LISTEN” can simulate multiple aural points from within a 3D aural model. The actual simulation itself is a “mathematical construction of how the given sound picture will look”. As the “LISTEN” project continues to develop, psychoacoustic experts will verify the authenticity of such aural architectural constructs.

DON’T JUST SUBTRACT SOUND, ADD IT

Exterior aural environments often make use of positive sounds – like fountains. The “LISTEN” project team has a theory that designers will be able to create more daring and new architectural designs by not just subtracting and dampening sounds, but by also adding positive sounds to an environment.

Architects need to go beyond the visual approach to architectural design by more fully integrating the audio dimension of architecture. A tool such as the “LISTEN” simulation software is certainly a step in the right direction – making the world of sound a more tangible part of the design process.

© 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