Drawing sounds

What new perspectives might sonic thinking bring to design education? In this paper the authors describe a workshop, 'Swapping Senses', supported by practitioners from sonic arts, music/voice and interior architecture, which reinterprets the psychoacoustic dimensions of sound. Recognising that the sonic realm is as important as the visual, the authors describe a process in which the eventual outcome is aural, rather than pictorial. Parallels are drawn with engineering and psychoacoustic aspects of products, and we define architecture as 'product prototype'. The paper offers an alternative and pedagogic counterpoint to data driven metrics and acoustics formulae applied to products and engineering analysis. The workshop allows student teams to experimenting over three weeks with sound in field trips, develop 'aural' observation skills, (an aural eye), and work with sound recording tools and software, (CuBASE). Experimenting with the sonic medium helps students re-assess dependency on visual outputs, develop spatially attuned sonic awareness of place, and extend the visual role of the CAD /IT lab into the territory of soundscapes. This exploration of sound helps students analytical and contextual framing of site, and encourages empathy for the sensory experience of users of design, and illustrates links with multi-modal design, the emerging field of soundscapes, and experience design