sound paper

     based off of Hearing Architecture...and my own experiences

     Sound can effect a space more than people recognize. When we look around a space we are not always feeling a certain way because of the way the space looks but instead due to the way the space feels. Often, the space feels a certain way because of the materials, acoustics, and fabrics that generate certain acoustics which all relate back to sound.

    One of the major places I remember for reverberating sound is my church in Winston, St. Leo the great. This Catholic church is small, but has a Gothic design. The ceilings are high and the church is narrow and long. In the back there are the organs which play exceptionally loudly in the small space. After the last note is played, the sound is still reverberated for almost an awkward amount of time. The entire service becomes an intense musical experience. Not only is the chorus in the back creating sound, but also the congregation as well as the priest himself. When the priest sings, his voice dramatically ranges from a higher note to a lower note to an even lower note even when just singing a two syllable word such as “amen”. This sympathetic note allows tone to be apparently reinforced. Without all of these sound effects and without the intense reverberation, peoples feelings would not have been as powerful and instead the effect would have been dead. The large sound range allowed for greater emotion.

    Houses today are another acoustical experience that often goes unnoticed. For instance, like the rococo period, my own house has an acoustical effect that works relatively well for its purpose, comfortable living. The ceilings are flat rather than domed which would reverberate sounds too much. Also, there is carpeting in several of the rooms where privacy is needed like the bed rooms which changes the resonance of a room and absorbs some of the sounds. Curtains and other draperies are located in several rooms as well. It almost seems as though each room is subconsciously specifically designed to master the acoustical effects of the room, even though that may not have been the intentions of my parents. For instance, the living room has a rug on wooden floor, rather than being fully carpeted like the bedrooms. Since the living room is more social than the bedroom, this makes sense. The same applies to the kitchen which is a tile floor and has no carpeting at all. This is the room the family enters into though and may be the most social of all rooms.


     Unlike my house are the places designed that completely lack materials that absorb sound. In my art history class during first year we always had assignments where we had to visit galleries. These galleries always had some sort of marble floor, really high ceilings, and walls that lacked acoustical panels or any kind of fabric to absorb sound. Instead, I'd walk into one of these spaces and feel awkward just from whispering about an assignment to the person I was there with.

    A great, however brief, sound effect I always remember is at the grande theater in friendly center. As soon as one walks in there's a great domed ceiling that has some sort of sound effect that allows for echoing. The first time I walked in I was taken by complete surprise and found myself laughing and saying any sort of gibberish just to hear my voice echo. Even if the interior design was not up to parr, to me, the architecture is still amazing because they have created an experience that I look forward to every time I enter the building.
Several other sound effects are created in my every day life. For example, the acoustics that are always provided in bathrooms in almost any house allow one to hear their voice reflect sound and create a much more beautiful voice. This is due to the sound reflecting materials such as porcelain, water, and tile.

Light series 4

Sound Sketch Series 1

1.Good Acoustics:

 

Carpet, acoustic panel, coffers, fabric, upholstery, artwork on walls, background noises

 

Bad Acoustics:

Metal in ceilings, exposed piping, concrete floor, hard walls, metal door jams, reflective surfaces on lockers

2. In the classrooms the use of carpet, acoustical panels on the wall and in the coffers, artwork on the walls, and the upholsteries absorb sound making the space have less echo and background noise being able to hear more clearly what is being said or done.The other spaces lack soft materials, and therefor cause a reflectance of noises off of the hard surfaces, such as the metal, exposed pipes, concrete floors, and hard walls, throughout the spaces lessening the ability to hear clearly.

3. Rosette acoustical wall panels made by Anne Quinn. They are decorative wall panels. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Offecct sound panel

 

 

 

 

Echo eliminator creates products that eliminate echo in the space

 

 

 

 

4. Harsh surfaces create a larger variation of noise within the space, so using a less harsh surface will help to lessen the all-around noises. A pin-able surface can be used to absorb sound but also be put to use. There are now products as shown above to make the space enjoyable but also eliminate background noises.

Window Panel Project

For this project we were required to make a window panel that somehow diffuses light.  We decided to make a modular structure which we could piece together and easily take apart.  Our initial idea had two different slits in them, one which was smaller than the other.  This allowed a person to choose how much light was let in between each modular piece. 

Initial design

On our first critique we realized we needed each piece to be smaller so we changed the length from 12 inches to 9 inches, meaning each of the four sides would take up 4.5 inches.  This should work well with the window pane which is 5 1/2" deep.  We we also given the suggestion to somehow create a system that allowed a person to easily remove parts of the window pane if they wanted to let more light in.  We came up with the idea to divide them into sections so that a person could remove one section of the window rather than only one modular piece at a time.  Suddenly, math has become crucial :(

 

deciding on the individual shapes

figuring out the separate panels  

window measurements

original shape with slits

Deciding the new height and length

Material: Cardboard, which is slightly over an 1/8th inch thick.  Our slits that the pieces are connected with were an 1/8" thick so it would hold the pieces together sturdier. 

Light Series 1

Light Box Project

Our first light box incorporated the primary colors and attempted to create all of the other colors through films. We made a blue film, green film, and red film and then used cut outs to create different layers.  Ultimately, through out cut outs we displayed green, red, blue, magenta, turquoise, brown, and a darker red. 

Our next box still used the film but we tried to incorporate light more.  We made three boxes at the laser cutter and put cut outs in them.  Each of the three boxes had their own primary color- red, green, and blue.  A bright hidden light was put behind them and forced the rays to come through the cutouts which created a ray of green next to red, and blue next to red. 

Light Series 3

Illuminance Measurement

Light Series 2

Light Series Two

Light on Human Health and Welfare Paper

Shirley Bircher

Light on Human Health and Welfare

The impact of light on human health and welfare is immense.  Not only does light affect your mood, but it can also have an effect on one’s health.  Human’s bodies have evolved to recognize daylight rhythms, whereas our systems have not yet adapted to electrical lighting.
            Day light offers an amount of melatonin, and from these changing levels of melatonin one is naturally able to transition from wakefulness to sleepiness at night.  The retina detects this rise and fall of daylight and evolutionary programming does not agree with one’s eyes being filled with electrical lighting after night has already fallen.  It is said to disrupt the circadian rhythm.
           Circadian rhythms focus on cardiac responses rather than melatonin studies.  Through this ongoing study it is determined that one’s body responds to a large range of light spectra.  Designers should take this into consideration and reduce circadian disruption.  There are several ways in which they can do this, such as site planning, shading and screening systems, electrical lighting systems, building orientation, and architectural openings. 
            Unfortunately there are several harmful effects of attaining the wrong amount of light.  For example, a person who works night shifts has an increased cancer risk.  Receiving too much light at night has been proven to cause breast cancer and even weight gain.  Most commonly though, lack of light can lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D). S.A.D happens when a person receives an inadequate amount of lighting for a prolonged amount of time.  Not only are they lacking Vitamin D, but also their circadian rhythm has been disrupted. This is why in some parts of the world people are more likely to be depressed in the winter than the other seasons.  Ultimately, light has a major power over humans in that it not only can control our feelings, but it can even control our health.      

Light Revealing Experience Paper

Shirley Bircher

Light Revealing Experiences

Light has meaning.  It serves several purposes while also creating memorable, meaningful experiences.  Richard Kelly organized light into three main groups; focal glow, ambient luminescence, and play of brilliants.  All of these lights can be seen in the relationships that light carries on with place, nature, climate, time, and task.
            There are two aspects of place, which are the place itself and the change that happens in the place.  For instance, North Carolina has been my home for twenty two years and I know my state simply by the behaviors of the light and seasons.  Also, I know the United States by our design styles and techniques which deal strictly with our “place”.  It would not make sense for our country to design a building suitable for the culture and climate of Japan.  Similarly, Japan designs according to their culture where they may incorporate shadows, while the Dutch design for their culture by utilizing extra large windows.  ‘Place’ is also explained in relation to light via psychological purposes.  Genius Loci is defined as the spirit of a place, allowing certain design techniques to affect a person psychologically.  For example, the windows in my living room are longer than most, letting an exuberant amount of light in.  The curtains are beautiful and start almost at the ceiling and sweep the floor.  These curtains were designed for function, but also affect me psychologically causing me to feel calm and peaceful in the designated place.
           Light can also be used to remind us of nature.  You may walk into a building and sense that you are at the beach, or in a forest, all because the light was set up to create such a feeling.  Color of course is also incorporated to create these feelings.  When I used to go to a restaurant called “Cities” with my parents, the ceiling has play of brilliant lights that would make me feel as though I was in a city at night time with beautiful lights overhead, even though this was not at all the reality of the situation.  I did not enjoy the food, but the environment the designers created made the experience enjoyable.  Several times there is a connection between the inside and the outside of the building.  For example, the Falling Waters house we visited first year utilized structure, windows, and color that made one feel as if they were standing outside even when they were indoors.
           Light plays a major role in climate.  Typically, the point is to lighten cold climates and diffuse hot climates through light.  I remember lying in the hallway during the summer because through the double glass doors, a perfect ray of sunshine would enter and instantly put me in a relaxing mood.  Light provides thermal comfort, can create a greenhouse effect, and can generate shadows that psychologically give a sense of coolness.
           The controller of time is light.  Not only does it allow us to know the seasons, but one is completely aware of the natural conditions outside because of light.  The best architecture is said to be the kind that celebrates light at day and at night.  For example, our current project in studio has several windows that are celebratory of how the solar house will look at all times of the day.
           One of the most important parts of light to humans is task.  There must be a distributed level of light to get the task required completed.  In the Gatewood building we have large windows that allow us to see our work.  However, there are also blinds that can be closed when the sun is angled.  Even with these windows, we sometimes have to use desk lights in order to see our work and a comfortable level.     

Light Scavenger Hunt!

John Flynn's psychological aspects of Lighting...

During class a fellow student and I went on a light 'scavenger hunt' where we found a couple of different lighting examples in interior spaces...

Starting a course on Light and Sound!  Just made a new label for it [Light and Sound IAR 334]