Integrating the Aural opinion
How acoustics can change the way we interact with objects and space.
Most people live strictly in their own digitally curated environment. It would be generally accepted to say that our physical worlds are shrinking while the digital is continuing to expand. It’s because of this digital expansion that we as designers are posed with a problem. Society has allowed technology to diminish relational interaction within the environments people physically inhabit. Personal space, once ruled by the senses, is now made up mostly of bandwidths and pixels; personal exploration within the built environment is a dwindling desire of the contemporary generation. Likewise, society has become increasingly dependent upon personal audio players, digital music sharing, and the ubiquitous headphones or ear buds that have become more fashion statements than tools to feel and understand the complexities of audible art. These parameters in turn create a simple question with a not so simple answer. How do we as designers integrate the sensation of acoustics into new objects, and space in hopes to reconnect the inhabitant or user to the built environment.
With an understanding of the historical context, modern explorations, and the metaphysical side of acoustics, diversity can shape acoustical equality through talent and determination. What follows is a brief idea of how the acoustical “crusaders” — including ones who cannot fully experience the sound of space — integrate sound and manufacture the interactive experience of sound into space that will hopefully move and inspire generations to come.
The historic connection between acoustics and self-expression can be understood through the grand cathedrals and speaking venues of ancient civilizations. Looking back, one can unequivocally see the prominence of acoustics within the built environment and how these grand spaces likely molded much of mankind’s present understanding of science, philosophy, and religious belief systems. One such space is St. Peters Basilica, known for the grandue and beauty St. Peters Basilica is also an incredible aural experience. The reverberations and amplifications of the space is truly unique, and when experiencing it the inhabitant can easily be consumed by the expansion of sound.
Society’s connection to the built environment is changing as relationships to virtual spaces are expanding. Some experiments have started to address the issues of reconnecting space to the people who inhabit it. David Byrne’s “playing the building” project begins a discussion of space and the fabricated auditory concoction produced by the users. In speaking about the installation, Byrne explains“…this democratizes the whole experience, and people know that when they approach it.” A simple recipe for the re-connection of space and sound to human senses allows any person, regardless of experience or ability to become one with the space, to appreciate the audible traits that make up the built environment. The immense diversity of auditory history and the events that have molded participants’ senses spawns the question: how do designers and scientists create an experience that is unique?
The democratization of space and sound is pertinent, but also hard to achieve. One issue is the shrinking sensual exploration of each person’s life. The personal “bubble” is continually expanding with data and virtual information, but shrinking in the context of personal spatial exploration. How designers create spaces or craft items that allow for a conversation between the site and the occupant is vital to the success of how people perceive space. This can be answered by creating small but complex items within spaces that require viewers or inhabitants to interact with the surrounding environment, allowing a re-connection to a functional environment that expands one’s spatial awareness beyond the binaural experience of hearing.
In the Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard speaks of the metaphysical connection between inhabitant and site. Bachelard states, “If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say: the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.” Bachelard goes on to make many connections between the psychological and physical importance of site and self. In his work, he equates the use of drawers, chests, and wardrobes to the place where people hide their secrets. The relationship of furniture and psyche is an important metaphysical connection that needs to be remembered and practiced in the acoustical exploration of space. How does the experience of a child hearing a grandparent’s rocking chair mold that child’s understanding of space, sound, and craft? Bachelard says, “Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child’s world and thus a world event.” This idea that any event, specifically any audible event, has an influence on daily life is an important idea which warrants further consideration.
Events can become building blocks in a person’s understanding of space and design. As designers and scientists, this theory needs to be taken into account when creating inhabitable space. Often equations and rigorous research outline the design of space to achieve acoustic superiority. Thus, senses are nothing more than an extension of opinion and with opinions come a diverse definition of acoustic superiority. However, there are events that shape senses in a way that can be seen as disability; but what is seen as a hindrance to an observer can be an opportunity for expression of diversity. It’s through this diversity that a new opinion on acoustic superiority is created. Those who are hearing-impaired are affected more than others in the audible world, and it’s through the impaired sense that a new aspect of acoustics is created. The physically tangible aspects of acoustics become important traits and the audible nature less necessary. Through vibrations and sound, those who are hearing-impaired are able to experience acoustics in a manner that creates a new layer of audio to be explored. Acousticians can design for the hearing impaired through the integration of sound and physical object. Through the integration of sound, site, and the physicality of craft, designers are able to introduce an aspect often overlooked in acoustic design — the sensory impact of vibration. Vibration can sometimes be seen as a negative, but if we are to question the so called “truth” that vibration is always a negative and view it as an opportunity to integrate a new sense into objects such as furniture we might be able to slowly expand this concept to larger scale items.
Furniture is often seen as a placeholder for the spatial environment; but just like acoustics, furniture can be audibly interactive. Furniture allows for dynamic equilibrium between site and people. Interaction with craft happens at all points through a person’s day; it is as simple as the favorite chair or the directness of a coffee table. No matter the piece, lives are continually influenced and guided by the furniture that surrounds and supports them. The ability to use this influence, and the structure the furniture provides, is an important tool that should be explored. In addition to the utilitarian function furniture fulfills, there is an opportunity to expand on this idea and integrate it into the site itself. The relationship between site, craft, and inhabitants is often overlooked. The use of furniture within inhabitable space creates an opportunity to expand sensory awareness by highlighting reciprocity between acoustics and craft.
Designers are still able to achieve a symbiotic relationship between site and inhabitants through developing people’s exploratory nature. People are integral to the production of sound within space. The interaction between them, the site, and the items that fill the space will again reconnect audiences to the power of acoustics and the significance of their actions within the built environment. Designers, scientists, hobbyist, and audiences can harness and utilize acoustics in the ever-changing world. The practical application of these concepts becomes apparent in one spatial study by a diverse set of designers. In one particular study titled Birch Boxes, the designer was able to interweave site and craft to expand on the relationship between the two.
These speakers used the cavity created by the studs in a typical conventionally framed wall as an expansion chamber for lower frequency sound waves — thereby actively integrating acoustics into architecture. With the placement of studs governed in all new construction by the International Code Council, this standardization of building created an opportunity to design a transferable piece that would be able to utilize the wall as an integral part of the loudspeaker’s operation. In doing this, these speakers started a dialogue between the architecture and product; no longer is the wall simply used as a support for space, and the loudspeaker a spatial placeholder. These two objects are now interrelated, creating a dependency on one another to fulfill their intended design purpose. The creation of objects that are dependent on site is pertinent to the problems associated with the re-connection of inhabitants to space. This answer demands an awareness of the space being occupied. In creating an awareness of site, craft is able to nurture a natural curiosity within people and the use of an acoustical object that is not only wall mounted but also wall dependent.
Simply put acoustics is a rigid science, but it is a science that is perceived through our senses. Senses, or lack there of, are an extension of and characterized by personal experience. If designers accept this as the way people perceive space, designers are challenged to create spaces that will spark a dialogue between user and site. Acoustics is crucial to the success of inhabitable space. If the goal is to create spaces that inspire generations to come, designers can no longer separate aesthetics, acoustic functionality, and interior design as three separate entities. It is only through the blending of these three practices that a truly unique and important piece of experiential architecture can be produced. No matter what seems like a disadvantage or disability, theorists, practitioners and users can create aesthetically pleasing, influential and time honored spaces from the formulation of questions that do not segregate opinions from so called truth.
