THE RELEVANCE OF ACOUSTICS FOR

THE ARCHITECTURAL ATMOSPHERE

ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING

Martijn van den Berg - 4183541

Fig 1. Cover, abstract sound wave, source: author

Abstract According to Julian Treasure, who gave a TED

During the design phase of a building, the Talk about acoustics in architecture, architects
architectural concept seldom includes the tend to focus on the eyes only.2 Architecture is
room acoustics. The architect focuses mainly often called a visual art, like the famous quote
on the sense of seeing, and the acoustics are a of the American architect Julia Morgan:
side issue which are not part of the architectural
design. Some architects however, are of the “Architecture is a visual art, and the
opinion that the acoustics are important for buildings speak for themselves.”3
the atmosphere and the perception of space. I
am of the same opinion, and think that there is In Vers un Architecture (Toward an Architecture),
both something wrong with the way we design Le Corbusier poetically describes architecture
as with the way education focuses only on the as “the masterly, correct and magnificent play
seeing sense. of masses brought together in light”, which he
continues with the importance of the eyes for
Keywords the experience of architecture.4 This partially
Room acoustics, senses, perception of space, shows Le Corbusiers position regarding
atmosphere acoustics in architecture, by correlating
architecture primarily with the eye and its
Architectural atmosphere function to see.
According to the architect Peter Zumthor,
architectural quality is, at least for him, when The Bexley Business Academy is a striking
a building moves him, which he describes as example where the primary focus is on
atmosphere.1 This is experienced with all the designing with and for the eyes. The academy
senses together. Most of the time it seems that was designed by the architecture firm Fosters
the architecture is designed regarding the eyes + Partners, and featured an open plan where
only. But according to some architects, one of the classrooms had no back-wall at the side
our most important senses for the perceiving of the atria. This caused unintelligibility in
of space, dimensions and material, besides the classrooms, which made the receiving of
the eyes, are the ears. Different opinions on information very hard. Later, the glass back
the matter seem often taken unconsciously, walls were added. It is not surprising that the
because there is not written very much about key-feature, transparency, is a feature entirely
the question whether room acoustics are part of dedicated to the eye. It won the RIBA national
the architectural atmosphere or not. However, award and was short-listed for the Stirling
some architects did write about the theme and prize.5 This is also an example where the jury
a lot of architects show their opinion by their falls for the visual part of architecture, while the
way of designing. building initially did not even work properly.

Architecture is a visual art, Also in big design competitions, room acoustics

Many architects unconsciously take in the are a side issue, even when it comes to buildings
position that room acoustics are not a significant which above all demand good acoustics. The
part of the architectural atmosphere. Room competition of the Sydney Opera House, was
acoustics is often seen as purely an engineering won by the architect Jorn Uzton. This building
matter, and when looking in the involved
parties in architecture magazines like Domus, 2  Treasure, J (2012), Why architects need to use their ears, TED
Talk
it seems the consultancies are only consulted 3  Morgan, J.
when the acoustics serve the primary function. 4  Le Corbusier (2008), Toward an Architecture, London:
Frances Lincoln
5  Spring, M (2008), Bexley Academy: Qualified success,
1  Zumthor, P. (2006), Atmospheres, p. 11, Basel: Birkhäuser http://www.building.co.uk/bexley-academy-qualified-
Architecture success/3115771.article

2 | - Martijn van den Berg

became an icon of Sydney itself. However, the space as warm and intimate, while only
shortly after the completion it became clear referring to the colours, being unaware of the
that the room acoustics of the opera house fact that the absorbing materials like the carpet
were dramatic, and some revisions had to be and curtains results in low reverberation times,
made in order to make it proper.6 This is both which is associated with small spaces. Because
the architect and the assessors to blame; both users and architects are often unaware of
the room acoustics were not, or not well, these effects, the room acoustics often do not
integrated in the architectural design, which get a proper design but rely on coincidences
causes the need for additions which may not regarding dimensions and material.
fit the original concept. The assessors seemed
to focus on the creation of an icon, according Pallasmaa writes in Eyes of the skin about the
to Lawson. effect of room acoustics and mentions the
difference between sight and sound and the
In architectural magazines, the reviews of complementation.8 They both act different
buildings concerns themes like space, material and we act different upon the different stimuli
and organization, but seldom the acoustics are which we retrieve via the two senses. Pallasmaa
reviewed. Actually, it sometimes seems like sees a great distinction between the two, but
the acoustics are only mentioned when it is especially acknowledges the importance of
troublesome, like in the previous mentioned hearing for the impression of rooms and spaces:
examples about the Bexley Business Academy
and the Sydney Opera House. "We are not normally aware of the
significance of hearing in spatial
The examples matches a view on the branch experience, although sound often
of architecture and shows their opinion about provides the temporal continuum
the relevance of acoustics in architectural in which visual impressions are
concepts. embedded" 9

Room acoustics are a significant part of the He explains this with the example of a movie,
architectural atmosphere and how the movie is perceived differently
This view on the importance and relevance of when the soundtrack is removed from it. He
room acoustics for the perception of space, describes the effect as letting the movie lose its
is not something of the last ten years. Steen plasticity and its scene of continuity and life.
Eiler Rasmussen talks about the experience of When cutting the sound from a movie, one can
architecture and in chapter 10 he says: imagine to be less immersed into the movie,
it feels as if one is more outside of everything
“We are seldom aware of how happening in the movie. This illustrates the
much we can hear. We receive a importance of sound, and Pallasmaa mentions
total impression of the thing we how “sight isolates, is directional and implies
are looking at and give no thought exteriority, whereas sound incorporates, is
to the various senses that have omnidirectional and implies an experience of
contributed to that impression.“ 7 interiorty.”10 This explains why the lack of sound
removes immersion, but also how sound and
Imagine entering a room with a lot of heavy sight complement each other.
curtains hung beside the windows and a very
soft and thick red carpet. One could perceive The ears are the main sense used by blind

6  Lawson, B (2001), The language of space, p.173, Oxford: 8  Pallasmaa, J. (2005), The eyes of the skin, architecture and the
Architectural Press, senses, p. 48-72 John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
7  Rasmussen, S.E. (1959), Experiencing Architecture, p.224, 9 Idem
MIT press 10 Idem

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people, to move through buildings, but also
to experience the atmosphere of buildings, “Architecture is shaped by lines, not
as described by the blind architect Chris words.” 13
Downey in a TED talk.11 One could say that the
blind people perceive space in a different way One of the reasons architects can come
than deaf people, but this shows a different away with lacking an acoustic design, is due
perspective on the architecture than Le to their methods of discourse. The entire
Corbusiers description. design exists of drawings, some descriptive
words and the architectural specifications.
Author’s position Whether it are sketches, AutoCAD sections or
3D renders, the method of communication is
‘Architects should start designing for also focused on the sense of sight. This works
our ears.’ 12 for most atmospheric values, since we can
make us an impression of how much daylight
During my attendance at the faculty of there will be, if the materialisation is suitable
architecture, during design meetings of for the atmosphere and if the dimensions fit
projects, me and my fellow students were the function. This is why tutors often discus
often asked about atmosphere related matters these themes. The reason why we do not
of spaces. Tutors would often discuss about the discus acoustics during the design meetings
lack of daylight, about sterile materialization is because on the one hand, like Pallasmaa
or the form of spaces and whether something described, we are often unaware of their
is a climatic buffer zone and whether the additive value, and on the other hand because
temperature would be appreciated. However, the methods of discourse are not suitable for
I can not recall one moment when a teacher imagining how the space would sound. The
would say something about the materialization combination of unawareness and the difficulty
and dimensions regarding the room acoustics. of imagining how the space sounds, makes
Acoustics seem hard for architects to that the architect does not easily changes the
understand and they are often unaware of their way he approach a design question.
contribution or effect on the human experience
of space and on our mental and physical health. Auralization can be an architects’ aid in
Partially because of their unawareness, as soon the imagination of how buildings sound.
as they start teaching, they will not teach about Auralization is a technique where rooms are
the relevance of acoustics. modelled in 3D by designing geometry and
applying acoustic properties of materials,
In my opinion room acoustics should, like light which is then simulated. This data is then used
and material, be a tool of the architect to design to simulate the sound inside the building.
the atmosphere of spaces. It is a shame that a In combination virtual reality, this can help
lot of architects cannot use this tool, because architects to have more control over the design
they have not learned its importance nor how of atmosphere of buildings.
to deal with it. This, as mentioned, starts early,
from the offered education by the faculty. I Conclusion
think, that by being able to use acoustics as a The discussion about whether the acoustics
way to form atmosphere in buildings, a much are part of the architectural atmosphere, is
richer atmosphere can be created, where the often conducted from one side; the architects
acoustics strengthen the architectural concept. and the people who think a lot more attention
11  Downey, C. (2013), Design with the blind in mind, retrieved should be given to design of proper room
from http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_downey_design_with_ acoustics. A lot architects and teachers however,
the_blind_in_mind
12  Treasure, J. (2012), Why architects need to use their ears, 13  Edwards, B (2008), Understanding architecture through
TED Talk drawings, p.167, New York: Tailer & Francis

4 | - Martijn van den Berg

seem to unconsciously take the position of Birkhäuser Architecture
that architectural atmosphere in buildings is
primarily a visual art, and that acoustics are
more of an engineering matter.

I am convinced that it is the responsibility of

the architect, to design acoustics that fit the
function and match the architectural concept
for a design question, and that although it can
be a real challenge, it can be a powerful tool
to create the atmosphere an architect has in
mind.

Literature
Edwards, B. (2008), Understanding architecture
through drawings, Tailer & Francis, New York

Lawson, B. (2001), The language of space,

Oxford: Architectural Press

Le Corbusier (2008), Toward an Architecture,

London: Frances Lincoln

Pallasmaa, J. (2005), The eyes of the skin,

architecture and the senses, p. 48-72, Chischester:
John Wiley & Sons

Rasmussen, S.E. (1964), Experiencing

Architecture, Cambridge (Massachusetts): MIT
Press

Spring, M. (2008), Bexley Academy: Qualified

success, retrieved from: http://www.
building.co.uk/bexley-academy-qualified-
success/3115771.article

Treasure, J. (2012), Why architects need

to use their ears, TED Talk, retrieved from:
http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_
why_architects_need_to_use_their_ears/
transcript?language=en

Vorländer, M. (2008), Fundamentals of

Acoustics, Modelling, Simulation, Algorithms and
Acoustic Virtual Reality, Springer-Verlag Berlin
Heidelberg

Zumthor, P. (2006), Atmospheres, Basel:

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