Building for and with sound: sound quality of architectural design

Dottorato di ricerca in International PhD architecture and urbanism, Ciclo III, a.a. 2008-2009In architectural design field, the interpretation of “sound” parameter evokes cultural and conceptual features that open towards new quality of architecture. The sound, having immaterial and incorporeal implications, is a physical presence in every built space. The sound dimension in architecture suggests the idea of space more livable and human, opposed to the repeated and “silent” images proposed by the media system of popular magazines or of internet pages. The sound invites us to enter the architectural space even to “listen” its intimate qualities. This thesis aims to illustrate how the sound is a contemporary “code” for architectural project that reveals innovative qualities of design. Furthermore the research focus on a comparative study of projectual case studies related to the “sound effect” in order to reveal as a consciousness of this descriptive tool (sound effect) can become a key-theme of project. A similar method of comparison is applied to the spaces of proximity, between outdoor spaces and indoor spaces. The space of proximity is intended as a “sample-space” to verify this comparative approach. These concepts, held through the critical comparison of a series of case studies, reveal the integration of sound parameter as a material both of architectural and urban project. The examples are divided into categories in reason of the distinction between sound and noise and different scales. The first, concerns how the presence of different kind of noise becoming a way to for modelling the architectural project, in big and medium scales. The second one reveals, in the smaller scale of building, how the project uses traditional control of volumes, dimensions and materials to create “sound effects” as components of built space. The other one category focuses on the sound as an artistic component of space through the use of mechanical or electrical installation. The result is that both sound and noise can be considered as aesthetic and generative component of project. The work translates the analytic language of sounds design into a graphicism that shows the skills of project in controlling sound components. A series of “Lebels” and “Sound Maps” are created to facilitate a reading of case studies in relation to the sound effects they produce. This to extrapolate recurring attitudes and design conditions that demonstrate the integration of sound in architectural project. A particular experimentation is leaded on the space of proximity, with the production of schemes that simplify and describe the space between indoor and outdoor and their particular sound conditions.Università della calabri