JANNETTE LE

ARCHIPELAGO I DESIGN STUDIO MELBOURNE SCHOOL OF DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN THESIS

JANNETTE LE

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CRITICS, GUESTS AND SUPPORTERS

PROF. PHILLIP GOAD DR. KAREN BURNS

CHAIR. DONALD BATES PROF. ALAN PERT

DENNIS PRIOR BYRON KINNAIRD KIM JANG YUN JOHAN HERMIJANTO MICHAEL ONG THOMAS STANISTREET

KATIE CHECKEN CLARA FRIEDHOFF PATRICK HEGARTY ADILAH IKRAM SHAH JAYDEN KENNY STEPHANIE KITINGAN JANNETTE LE MARC MICUTA JACK PU

STUDIO LEADER: TOMMY JOO

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to specially thank these people who made this all possible Tommy Joo, for being my guiding light through my semester, and the Doctor of All Thesis Troubles My wonderful studio mates in ArchipĂŠlago for making this semester fun (and undoubtedly the best) - Marc, Steph, Adilah, Clara, Pat, PuPu, Jayden & Katie, My family - Dad, Mum, Steven, for helping me grow up and sticking by me through thick and thin for all these years, All of my friends for the laughter and unyielding support - especially the weekend studio sessions (Mitch and Collins - Kodiaks forever), and the endless sessions on skype (Mond, timezones regardless), Barbie, the constant sunshine, and Choi, for everything.

THANK YOU I couldn’t have made it without you.

EXPLORATIONS 11 PHONOMNESIS A sound imagined but not actually heard.

12 ABSTRACT Can we create architectural space through sound?

14 CALM SEA Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet 101 MAKURA KOTOBA Pillow Words 123 EPILOGUE The End

17 EXPLORATIONS 18 THE PHYSICALITY OF SOUND Why do we need sound?

20 ANATOMY How does the human body process sounds?

30 ON SOUND AND LANGUAGE Language as a sonic communicator 31 ARCHITECTURAL PROGRAM Athenaeum of Song and Language, program proposed at Midsemester 36 INSTRUMENTATION Musical Instruments as amplifiers

24 DESIGN PRECEDENTS 26 THE ELEMENTS OF SOUND Timbre, Duration, Pitch, Amplitude 28 EXPLORATIONS IN NOTATIONS Learning from John Cage

126 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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38 SOUND AND THE CITY How well do we listen to our urban fabric?

THE PROJECT 51 ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND TODAY Part One

72 LANGUAGE AND SONG Part Four

102 THE POETRY OF SOUND Part Eight

58 THE SOUND VISUAL Part Two

80 THE MATERIALITY OF SOUND Part Five

105 FIGURES AND BACKGROUNDS Part Nine

62 ON MUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE Part Three

90 EXPLORATIONS IN INSTRUMENTATION Part Six 94 SYNESTHESIA Part Seven

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108 PHONOMNESIS Part Ten

PHOTOGRAPHS

FIGURES

15 OUT ON THE CANALS ISO 200 35mm f / 8.0 1/500 sec

94 MUSIC IN MOTION ISO 100 35mm f / 8.0 1.2secs

19 THE PHYSICALITY OF SOUND Ink on Canvas

36 THE INTERIOR OF THE PIANO (SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS) ISO 200 50mm f / 3.5 1/400 sec

101 THE ALLEYWAY ISO 200 50mm f / 3.5 1/400 sec

20 THE ANATOMY OF THE EAR Digital Drawing on Photoshop

102 THE HANGING GARDEN ISO 200 50mm f / 2.0 1/160 sec

22 THE MIND ARCHIVE Digital Drawing

132 THE SELECTED MEDIUM ISO 1250 35mm f / 2.8 1/125sec

23 RESONATORS Digital Drawing

134 EVERYTHING ISO 100 f / 17mm 1.3secs

26 THE ELEMENTS OF SOUND Digiral Drawing

63 BEHIND THE EBONY ISO 200 35mm f / 8.0 1/500 sec 80 PIANO STRINGS ISO 200 35mm f / 8.0 1/500 sec 82 EXPLORATIONS IN ECHO AND REFRACTION, MODEL (PHOTOS 1, 2, 3, 4) ISO 800 35mm f / 2.8 1/60 sec

27 TSCHWANE DANCE Digital Drawing, Adobe Audition

92 THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN, DANIEL LIBESKIND ISO 1600 35mm f / 2.0 1/50 sec

30 THE FRAGMENTATION OF LANGUAGE Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2

93 THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN BERLIN, MEMORY VOID, DANIEL LIBESKIND ISO 1600 35mm f / 2.0 1/5 sec

34 THE FRAGMENTATION OF LANGAUGE PT. 2 (TRIGGER IMAGE) Ink & Watercolour on Cardstock, A2

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38 SOUND THAT ROLLS THROUGH THE CITY Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 41 HEARING ALLEYWAYS Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 42 HOW CLOSELY DO YOU LISTEN? Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm 46 CONCEPT SECTION Graphite on Trace, A2 68 MUSICAL NOTATION DRAWING OF TSCHWANE DANCE, BANTU Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 71 RE-IMAGINING THE TOWER OF BABEL Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 72 TSCHWANE DANCE PT.2 Ink and Watercolour on Cardstock, A2

74 MUSICAL NOTATION DRAWING OF CLAIR DE LUNE BY DEBUSSY, INDO-EUROPEAN Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2

114 THE FOYER TO THE CONCERT HALL Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm

77 MUSICAL NOTATION SIOUX TRIBE TRADITIONAL FLUTE MUSIC, UTO-AZTECAN Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2

116 STONE ARCHES Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm

79 MUSICAL NOTATION DRAWING OF 闗 山月-THE MOON OVER WALL GATE IN FRONTIER, AUSTRONESIAN Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 99 THE MECHANICS OF AN UPRIGHT PIANO Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2 106 HEARING ALLEYWAYS Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2

110 THE GRAND ORGAN Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm 112 THE DOME Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm

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118 THE CONCERT HALL Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm 120 THE MUSIC SCHOOL & CONCERT HALL Ink Drawing on Cardstock, 70x100cm 124 MUSIC SCHOOL CONCEPT SKETCH Graphite Drawing on Cardstock, A2 130 THE CITY MAZE Ink Drawing on Cardstock, A2

PHONOMNESIS

Phonomnesis

This effect refers to a sound imagined but not actually heard. Phonomnesis (phonomnèse) is a mental activity that involves internal listening: examples include recalling to memory sounds linked to a situation, or creating sound textures in the context of composition.

Phonomnesis remains one of the great methods of composition, since a theme – before it is actually played, whistled, or hummed – is a mental act. Some musicians cannot compose without actually listening, but others elaborate their works in exterior silence. … the creation of a sound from memory, in the absence of a sound signal, is quite widespread. The simple reading of a description of the sonic universe is enough to stimulate the imagination, which will evoke an ensemble of sounds necessary for the veracity of the story. Listening is an act that can sometimes be totally mental and silent. Graphic sonic effects, characteristic of strip cartoons and real phonomnesic indicators, transpose the sonic world into the visual field, in which the occupied surface and the shapes of letters combine to illustrate or invent the intended effect.

Phonomnesis as described by Jean-Francois Augoyard and Henry Torgue, translated by Andra McCartney and David Paquette from The Sonic Experience, A guide to every day sounds

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ABSTRACT HOW CAN WE CREATE ARCHITECTURAL SPACE THROUGH SOUND?

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Listening is a sense of touch that encapsulates the entire human body . As vibrations and soundwaves travel through the air and brush up against our eardrums, our ears act as resonators to translate the sounds in our minds, and our environments reverberate and reflect sounds towards us. Listening is a physical experience that occurs with your entire being as your body acts as a resonator, filtering the sounds around you.

Sound is a forgotten sense when it comes to architectural design, often limited to the disciplines of acoustic engineering and science. However, the language of architecture is one which can severely change the composition of the soundscapes around you. Architecture can be used to capture, enhance, channel and soften sounds.

The link between the visual and the sonic has been explored through the fields of sound artistry, composition and engineering as well as psychological studies. Can an architectural representation have a sonic quality? Can we create a soundtrack for architecture through imagined space? Sound is unique in its ability to create spatial understanding.

Many creatures on earth use sound to locate themselves. Sound is the first sense that humans experience – you hear the world before you see it.

The modern era has heralded tools to manipulate sound – much like digital technology has advanced tools of visual representation and understanding of 3D space, it is now accessible to remix, re-model and re-shape soundscapes. Can we then use this technology to our advantage, to create architecture through sound? How does this alter the way we approach architectural design?

How can we create architectural space through sound?

The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep, And round the pebbly beaches far and wide I heard the first wave of the rising tide Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep; A voice out of the silence of the deep, A sound mysteriously multiplied As of a cataract from the mountain’s side, Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep.

So comes to us at times, from the unknown And inaccessible solitudes of being, The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul; And inspirations, that we deem our own, Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing Of things beyond our reason or control.

“Calm Sea” by Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet Sonic words painting a visual soundscape Photograph: Jannette Le 2013

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EXPLORATIONS

Why do we need sound?

Sound is required for human beings to communicate.

It acts as a warning system, predation and navigation. It is a physical sense that we feel against the fabric of our bodies Sound is an inherently physical sense. As vibrations travel through the air and brush up against our eardrums, the sound is translated in our minds. Our environment reverberates and reflects sounds towards us. Listening is a physical experience that occurs with your entire being as our body acts as a resonator, filtering the sounds around you. As the human body passes through space, sound becomes the envelope that surrounds you.

I looked at the physicality of sound. This drawing was created using ink on a stretched canvas and a speaker cone. Using a low frequency I was able to move the canvas and the ink.

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AURICLE HELIX ANTI-HELIX

The exploration of sound led me into researching how we understand sound, or how the human body processes it. How does the human body translate the parts of a sound into something comprehendible?

Anatomical Studies told me that all sounds were reduced to vibrations which strummed against our eardrums.

These vibrations were then translated by the mechanisms in the ear into electrical signals.

Therefore, we hear with our ears, but in fact, we listen with our central nervous systems.

But within any given time only a small part of the sound energy goes straight into your ear, a large part of it gets reflected around you.

The built environment being a large factor on which sound reaches you.

ANTIRAGUS

LOBULE

EXTERNAL AUDITORY CANAL

DITORY CANAL

MIDDLE EAR

MALLEUS

OUTER EAR

INCUS STAPES

SEMICIRCULAR CANALS VESTIBULAR NERVE

COCHLEAR NERVE

COCHLEAR

TYMPANIC CAVITY

EUSTACHIAN TUBE

ROUND WINDOW TYMPANIC MEMBRANE

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Our brains view information as a vast network.

Our brains require cues - can sound be used to trigger sonic memories?

As our brains are the final step of converting physical vibrations to listening - what possibilities does this hold?

I looked at exploring the latent possibilities in the human mind - and triggering spaces through sounds.

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Silence is something that is created by human perception, as it is almost impossible to experience as every object emits a tone.

A dying star, through measured vibrations, emits a sound 16 Octaves below concert pitch C. The human eye resonates at 30-80 Hz, the ribs at 60, and the spine at 11.

Even within an anechoic chamber, you will never experience true silence. You would hear your nervous system in operation, your blood pumping through your veins.

But within any given time only a small part of the sound energy goes straight into your ear, a large part of it gets reflected around you.

The built environment being a large factor on which sound reaches you.

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DESIGN PRECEDENTS

Sound Building, Robert Highsmith Rhode Island School of Design Providence, USA

Institute of Language and Knowledge, Daniel Schinagl London South Bank University UK

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Precedent studies looked at both speculative and built works. In particular interest was the studies of sound done by Robert Highsmith, and involved extensive experimentation on the physicality of sound. Bernard Leitner’s Le Cylindre Sonore was fascinating in its use of sound as an active participator in the experiental quailty of the space.

The Institute of Language and Knowledge by Daniel Schimagl was studied for the project’s innovative use in archiving knowledge, and the possibility of language being linked to sound and communication.

Other examples looked at the work of Steven Holl, Iannis Xenakis and Daniel Libeskind, which is discussed in more detail further in the book. The notation innovations by John Cage were also looked at, and his understanding of sound and silence.

Le Cylindre Sonore, Bernard Leitner

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MEMORY

FREQUENCY

HEARING AMPLITUDE

TIMBRE

DURATION

EMOTION

A sound can be broken down into four parts; frequency, amplitude, timbre and duration. This composition creates an invisible, three-dimensional architecture, whose structure is the timing and divisibility of the sound, the form is the content, and the material is the tone. Sound, in its silent emptiness and rolling cadences, can create rhythm, symmetry and poetry.

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IMAGE

HEARING

LISTENING

SOUNDS ARE translated into electric impulses

RECOGNITION

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Cage describes sound as having four parts: frequency, amplitude, timbre and duration.

He describes sounds in the form of architecture – the structure of the music is the timing and divisibility, the form is the content, the material is the tone. The opposite of sound is silence. It is silence and time which creates the structure of a sound.

MALE VOICE

BEADS

CLAPPING

FLUTE

WOMAN SINGING

JOINED BY CHORUS

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Cage was also a pioneer in musical notation, and the idea of spatiality in sound.

This expanded further into his ideas of poetry. He was interested in the spatiality of words, how poetry as a language breaks down sounds into rhythm, and how this structure can provide symmetry.

I looked at notating a Tshwane Dance and how they used rhythm and voice to create song.

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The explosion and fragmentation of language, and its eventual fade.

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Program Exploration

Unification (Song), Education, Exploration

The Urban Fabric/ Site

The Labyrinth/ Fractured Paths of Language

The Language Archive/ Library of Songs

Performance area for forgotten songs and stories

Song rooms for the four major quadrants of language

Breaking down language barriers through song

Proposed program of an Athenaeum of Songs & Language PHONOMNESIS 31

Language migration over history as described by UNESCO

Communication through oral language Language is inherently tied to cultural identity. A culture can exist without a written language, as the spoken word allows a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system.

We understood music before we understood poetry.

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Language is a story that is influenced by chance meetings and experiences.

Sound, when placed into the laws of language, because a complex commincator.

The human capability to complicate the primate sense of sound and communication into a complex web of laws created the oral language. A language is inherently tied to its cultural identifiers.

Language created cultural barriers. However, with sound and tone, you can still communicate to someone emotions.

Music, in this sense is the universal commincator. We recognise music in a part of our brains which we share with most of the animal kingdom. , with creatures we have not shared evolutionary paths with for millions of years. It is hypothesised then, that music predates language. And that music, is recognisable to all, regardless of culture. A upbeat tempo in a major key will be recognised as happy. A slow tempo in a minor key will trigger feelings of sadness.

The human capability to complicate the primate sense of sound and communication into a complex web of laws created the oral language. A language is inherently tied to its cultural identifiers.

Language created cultural barriers. However, with sound and tone, you can still communicate to someone emotions.

Music, in this sense is the universal commincator. We recognise music in a part of our brains which we share with most of the animal kingdom. , with creatures we have not shared evolutionary paths with for millions of years. It is hypothesised then, that music predates language. And that music, is recognisable to all, regardless of culture. A upbeat tempo in a major key will be recognised as happy. A slow tempo in a minor key will trigger feelings of sadness.

This drawing was created as a trigger image for my ideas of the fragmentation of language.

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PHONOMNESIS 36

I looked at architecture as a volume or an amplifier of sounds. This lead to the exploration of other amplifiers - mainly musical instruments and looking at how they amplified and created music from physical vibrations.

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How well do we listen to sound in our urban landscape? This question lead to a series of sound mapping exercises where I looked at the fabric of the city and captured recordings of the space. The urban landscape amplified and shaped the soundscapes that surrounded us. The hum of the air conditioners was constant, but yet, you could still hear birds hidden down an alleyway.

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PHONOMNESIS 41

Adobe Audition

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The recordings led me to digital manipulation of sound.

Modern sound manipulation technologies have many techniques available to them that emulate architectural design. By changing the rate of reverberation of a sound we can engineer the sonic volume of the space. Changing the “sharpness� or dampening of a sound can alter the materiality. We can easily manipulate spaces now from timber rooms, stone rooms that bounce around sounds, long tunnels that carry the sound forever forward, to great, cavernous spaces that bounce the sound back to us.

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THE PROJECT

ARCHITECTURE AND SOUND TODAY PART 1

Fig 1. John Cage’s Notation of the “Symphony of Modules” by composer Istvan Anhalt was the main inspiration for the design of the Daeyang Gallery. Image: John Cage, from Notations (1969), through www.stephenholl.com(accessed 12th of October 2013)

Fig 2. A concept sketch for the Daeyang Gallery by Steven Holl shows the duplication of John Cage’s notation of the “Symphony of Modules” as the inspiration for the form and floor plan. Image: Stephen Holl through www.stephenholl. com (accessed 12th of October 2013) Fig 3. The completed Daeyang Gallery, 2012. Image: Stephen Holl through www.stephenholl.com (accessed 12th of October 2013)

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The medium of architectural design and the built environment is one that has a direct impact upon the surrounding soundscape. However, very few architectural designs in this day and age take advantage of this. Sound is rarely used as a driving point of architectural design. Architects communicate through drawings, and hence the design outcomes are generally visual. The modern first world city soundscape consists of the hustle and bustle of the cars, the constant drone of the air conditioners and the incessant clicking of a mouse and keyboard. Most architectural design does not address the factors to create a soundscape that is calming for one to exist in. Julian Treasure in his TED TALK keynote describes how modern sound environments are impacting upon our health, social behaviour and productivity.1 The soundscapes within a building are rarely considered in the final design outcome.

Sound and music has, in the past, been a driving factor for architectural design beyond the scope of acoustic engineering. Sound and music were particular drivers for Steven Holl’s design of the Daeyang Gallery and House in Seoul, Korea.2 Holl speaks of being inspired by the musical score “Symphony of Modules” shown in the book “Notations” by John Cage (Fig.1).3 Here, Cage’s notation is used as a visual driver for the design of the building complex. The geometry generated by the notation is used to create the plan of the gallery as well as the patterning of the walls. The project’s engagement to the musical piece is purely visual – there is no discernable reasoning in terms of soundscape or acoustics that certain sections of the music were selected and the patterning used. Holl states that “we could redefine space by shifting our attention from the visual to how it is shaped by resonant sounds, vibrations, materials

and textures”,4 however, his sound-driven designs are almost always tied back to visual scores and notations. This is demonstrated again in his Munich Hypo-bank block (1994) which uses the “Gruppen” notation by K. Stockhausen in 19555 and its literal translation of the visual notation to generate form once again. The form generation done by Holl with linkages to sound are thus simply visual cues taken from creative notation techniques and are not driven by the soundscapes they wish to create or occupy. This is a seeming weakness in his methodology in creating sounddriven designs, with the visual that they create not having any linkages to the visual soundscape they may trigger. Although Holl speaks of resonance, his materiality and detailing are not concentrated on the possibilities of capturing and harnessing sound and its effects on the body.

Preceding the work of Steven Holl, Iannis Xenakis was a prominent architect in the 20th Century who spent a large period of his professional life working for Le Corbusier. Xenakis was a mathematician and composer, and used his training in other fields as a driver for his architecture. A particular example of note is the Convent of La Tourette, the façade in which was generated from using musical notation.

Xenakis analysed a musical piece, and translated this into the façade design (fig.5). The façade design began by looking at Le Corbusier’s modular man as well as musical notation and translated the density achieved into the window patterning.6 His more prominent work however, was that of the Philips Pavilion, built for the Philips Electronics Company for the 1958 Expo. The work was commissioned to Le Corbusier, who Xenakis was working for at the time. It was inspired by his composition Metasaesis (1953-54).7 The notation

“Why Architects need to use their ears”, Julian Treasure, TED TALKS, 2012, http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_why_ architects_need_to_use_their_ears.html (accessed 18th of October, 2013) 2 “Daeyang Gallery and House”, Steven Holl, accessed 18th of October, 2013, http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail. php?id=114&award=true (accessed 8th of June, 2013) 3 “Daeyang Gallery and House”, Steven Holl, accessed 18th of October, 2013, http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail. php?id=114&award=true (accessed 17th of October, 2013) 4 Steven Holl; Juhani Pallasmaa; Alberto Perez Gomez, Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 2006, 87 5 Holl, Pallasmaa, Perez Gomez, Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, 89.

6 Iannis Xenakis: translated by Sharon Kanach, Music and Architecture: architectural projects, texts and realizations by Iannis Xenakis, The Iannis Xenakis Series no. 1, Pendragon Press, New York, 2008, 112 7 Iannis Xenakis: translated by Sharon Kanach, Music and Architecture: architectural projects, texts and realizations by Iannis Xenakis, The Iannis Xenakis Series no. 1, Pendragon Press, New York, 2008, 68 1

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Fig 4. (above) Iannis Xenakis’ sketches of the Phillips Pavillion. Image: Iannis Xenakis, provided by iannis-xenakis.org (accessed 10th of October, 2013)

Fig 5. (below) Iannis Xenakis’ development of the La Tourette FaÇade. Image: Iannis Xenakis, provided by iannisxenakis.org (accessed 10th of October, 2013)

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for this piece was a mass of lines which fell to a point, and flowed around the page. The notation became one of the main drivers for the overall form of the pavilion.

At one point, hyperbolic paraboloids which were spatialised sound projections of Edgar Varese’s Poéme Electronique (fig.5) created the peaks and troughs. His piece was played within, as well as the Concrete Ph

by Xenakis. He lined the walls with asbestos to create a hard cavernous room that bounced and echoed the sounds around the space. Xenakis’ work is a half-way point between that of Holl and those that explore the more atmospheric qualities of sound on the body.

The critique on this would be that it is so focused on patterning and geometry that the sonic is reduced to pure visuals. There was much more potential explored in the Phillips pavilion where sound was actually a key player in the overall composition and experience of the space.

An architect whose work shows sensitivity towards design that is cantered upon the sensory experience is Peter Zumthor. His approach to sound and its incorporation into his designs are quite different to that of Steven Holl. Zumthor, in his lecture series on Atmospheres says, “Interiors are like large instruments, collecting sound, amplifying it, transmitting it elsewhere. This has to do with the shape peculiar to each room and with the surfaces of the materials they contain… many people are not aware of the sound a room makes…”8 Zumthor romanticizes a building in its stillness and in silence and discusses the effect

of a human body entering the quietness of that space, and how that soundscape alters as you walk through it.

The Therme Vals designed by Peter Zumthor in 1996 is a work that strongly showcases his methodology in approaching sound in design (fig.7). Within the vals is a “sound bath” or “resonance room” lined with broken stone.9 The room reaches up high and the rough stone surface ricochets sound along the water a few octaves lower than what was once spoken.10 The sound created in this space is deeply meditative and relaxing. In this room Zumthor best shows how the surface of the material can have such an effect on the soundscape of a room. The careful consideration on how the material is rested against the wall also changes the sound. Zumthor is an architect who is acutely aware of the effects a soundscape can have on the state of mind of a person occupying the space. Zumthor uses architectural tectonics to create spaces that are sonically sensitive and reactive to the human presence.

Architecture is an inherently visual practice. This is linked to the production of architecture and experience of architecture. Architects draw, and publish their work in magazines with glossy photographs and images. It is thus inherently difficult for an architect to represent their ideas beyond the visual aspect. Peter Zumthor discusses the idea of a sonic memory, which can trigger vivid images of his childhood. For example, the sound of pots and pans clacking in a kitchen can bring back visions of his mother cooking.11

Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, Basel: Birkhauser GmbH, 2006, 29.

“Material and Presence”, Hotel Therme Vals, http://www.therme-vals.ch/en/therme/architecture/peter_zumthor/ (accessed 20th of October, 2013) 10 “Serenity and Austerity: Therme Vals”,Jeanne Tan, Australian Design Review, http://www.australiandesignreview.com/ features/404-serenity-in-austerity-therme-vals (accessed 9th of June, 2013) 11 Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres, 29.

8 9

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Fig. 6 The Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor. Zumthor was aware of the play sound had against his materials, the water, and the experiential effect this has on the human body.

Photograph: Helene Binet, 2006

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THE SOUND VISUAL PART 2

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some-one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `’Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door Only this, and nothing more.’

Edgar Allan Poe, Excerpt from The Raven, first published 1845

Fig. 7 Falling Water by Hiroshi Senju 2013. His images invoke the sound of cascading waterfalls.

Image: Hiroshi Senju, 2013

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Kristine Bakken is a sound artist who has created a constantly growing sound project called “Soundtracks”.

Bakken describes it as “remembering sounds… they set a tone, the atmosphere of our daily lives… collecting memories of sound is exploring a personal history.”12 The Soundtracks installation collects sonic memories of visitors and people all over the world and curates it into the archives. With words, people describe important sonic memovries. These same words can be used to invoke other triggers in another reader. Sound is a difficult sense to describe, and Bakken hopes to add it to our language and to tell a history through sound.

Sound is used for its storytelling elements, and instead of describing a situation through the visual sense, it is described through the sonic. This leads back to a question about architecture – can architecture be sound alone? Can we create architecture using sound alone?

Hiroshi Senju makes use of the ideas of sonic memory to create his paintings and installations. His work has a re-occuring theme of weather and nature especially that of falling water. His large format paintings are used as installations for interiors like that of the Shofuso in Japan, as well as the Haneda and Tokyo International Airports. Upon them, he paints on Japanese mulberry

12

paper with acrylic and creates an image of a cascading waterfall (Fig. 7). In a room that he lines with these images the roar from these silent waterfalls is apparent.

The visual is dynamic, and triggers a sonic memory.

Senju does not limit his artwork to paint only, and pays particular attention to the light in which it is presented. The painting Dayfall/Nightfall (2011) is presented in a dark room and lit by an eerie blue light and evokes a different sensation to his well-lit works.

The lighting creates stillness in the work and mutes the sonic quality that the room emits. While some of his other installations roar, this one evokes quietness. Senju creates a sonic space using visual means.

Whereas Senju creates an imagined soundscape from the images he creates, artists and composers for centuries have been translating sound onto paper for centuries. Musical notation or scoring is the primary example of this. Music in its abstract form is translated into another language itself on paper, with its own rules and laws. This form of musical notation is a law unto itself - using symbols and words to make the song faster, slower, louder and softer.

“Soundtracks”, Kristine Bakken, http://versonatura.org/stijn/soundtracks/ (accessed 8th of August, 2013)

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ON MUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE PART 3

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Fig 8. Daniel Libeskind’s Chamberworks III-V, obtained via www.daniel-libeskind.com, accessed 20th of October, 2013.

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Musical notation of the classical and romantic eras or traditional notation as we are aware of it has evolved over the last century. Composers looked at representing their music in other ways – more spatially, conveying the atmosphere and emotion of the piece. A pioneer in this field was John Cage, who represented his music through a distinctly different notation system. As discussed earlier, his work has influenced many architects – from Steven Holl to Daniel Libeskind. John Cage was educated classically in music composition, and it was through his studies and explorations that he developed a notation style that worked for him. Towards the end of his life, his notations were shockingly simple, and may have consisted of just a line a page.

Daniel Libeskind’s Chamberworks series of drawings shows his inspiration from musical notation (fig.

8). Daniel Libeskind himself was trained in music previously, and states the link between music and architecture - “Music and architecture are so integrally intertwined; the composition of music has a score with lines and notes which are completely precise. Similarly, architectural drawings are a kind of score with lines and points and openings; these, too have to be completely precise and accurate.”13 Libeskind spent some time as a paper architect, having his work mapped out on paper but never built. His seminal work of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, however has remnants of his experiments with sound and sound notation. His previous drawings were obviously called upon on the drawings of the Jewish

Museum, and his understanding of materials in space help to create one of the strongest spaces in the museum – the central void with the Falling Leaves art installation.

The cast iron faces which clink against each other bounce off the hard concrete walls of the void, completely echoing the space and immersing the visitor in its sound.

Daniel Libeskind describes this in his interview with Norman Geras, “Architecture is, of course, also sensitive to acoustics and to balance, which, we all know, comes from the inner ear. I have always been intensely interested in the sounds that site emits. In the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the last Void, which I call the ‘Memory void’, was my architectural attempt to compete the music of Arnold Schoenberg’s ‘Moses and Aaron’. Schoenberg composed this piece while he was still living in Berlin. But then, after his flight from the Nazi’s and his exile to America, he could not finish the music of the last movement of the opera. So I tried to complete the opera with the music of the footsteps and whispers of those in the Void. Both architecture and music are arts which, if done properly, should affect one’s emotions. Music is totally abstract but when we hear touches of not only our intellect but our hearts. Architecture has the opportunity to touch at our spirit and our soul.” 14 Libeskind has used his architecture as an abstract continuation to the musical piece, and used materiality and volume to distort and change the experience of those who enter the space.

Daniel Libeskind, An Interview with Daniel Libeskind, http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2013/06/an-interview-with-daniel-libeskind-.html (accessed 20th October, 2013) 14 Daniel Libeskind, An Interview with Daniel Libeskind, http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2013/06/an-interview-with-daniel-libeskind-.html (accessed 20th October, 2013) 13

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Rhythmic Percussion

Melody Lines

Melody Lines/ Obvious Vibrato

Isolated Percussion

Melodic Percussion

Obvious trilling or strumming

SOUND NOTATION ASSIGNMENTS

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Opposite Page: Musical Notation Drawing of Tschwane Dance, Bantu. Ink on Cardstock, A2.

Jannette Le 2013

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Opposite Page: Re-imagining the Tower of Babel, Ink on Cardstock, A2 Jannette Le, 2013

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LANGUAGE AND SONG PART 4

Musical language is universal and allows orchestras with musicians from all over the world to come together and play the same song. The idea that there was an underlying sonic landscape that people all had in common was especially interesting. Looking back at legends and history I happened upon the Legend of the Tower of Babel, where all peoples on earth used to speak the same language. Here, where communication was not an issue, they could achieve greatness, building a tower up to the heavens. When God looked down upon them and found them overly proud, he cast people all over the world and confused their languages. There are studies into the areas of linguistics, and using the “out of Africa” theory, it would make sense to conclude that language also emerged with the same migration patterns. Linguists who explored linguistics also concluded that the same thing. Languages in Africa, being the oldest, were also the most complicated linguistically. These languages included clicks, and other sound effects, thereby creating a language that had much more change tonally as well as deepening complexity.

Exploring spatiality in drawings and notations for music and their connection to visualising sound, I looked at the four major families of language; these being the Austronesian, Bantu, Indo-European and Uto-Aztecan language families. Together, these four language families occupy one third of humanity’s 7000 current languages. 15 Language is inherently tied to cultural identity. A culture can exist without a written language, as the spoken word allows a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system. Oral traditions can transmit testimonies through folk tales, songs and ballads. However, regardless of language, depending of the tone a sound is delivered, it can convey happiness, sadness or anger. Music triggers understanding in a part of the brain which we still share evolutionarily with animals such as the whale – which we

have not shared a path with for millions of years. There is such a thing as whale-song, the grand animals singing to each other to communicate.16 It has been suggested then, that humanity knew song before it knew language.

Language is a form of communication governed by laws and structure, and evolutionarily, at the centre of all language is tone and song.

A word, enunciated differently would sound angry, sad, or joyful regardless of its’ intended meaning. You can scream the word ‘happiness’ in joy, but one who does not have a grasp of the English language may understand the word in spite, if said in such a way. Even in ancient oratory traditions there were words that described things that were ‘majestic’, ‘slow’, ‘proud’ and ‘austere’, which the Romantics such as Schubert, Chopin and Wagner transcribed into the terms of music; ‘allegro’, ‘pianissimo’, ‘andante’. Even those with no experience in musical theory can recognise an up-tempo song in a major key as one conveying happiness, whereas those in a slow tempo in a minor key portrays emotions of sadness and fear.

This can be drawn also to tribal music - often untainted by outside influences - which dances joyfully and quickly to the sound of the beaten drum and the lyrical voices that carry the oral tradition.

Looking at the above, I conducted a visual notation experiment by observing typical music from each of the major language families. This developed into an exploration in the differences in traditional music, and whether or not there were any similarities. I was interested in whether or not there were spatial similarities to the music, and whether the music had its own visual signature. I was also fascinated with the idea of whether or not the notation could convey the same emotions as the music.

To keep the drawings consistent, I developed a short legend that I would use to notate the music with. Here, the

UNESCO, www.unesco.org (accessed 18th October, 2013) Anthropogenisis, http://anthropogenesis.kinshipstudies.org/2012/08/the-evolution-of-language-and-music/, (accessed 16th of September, 2013) 15 16

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inspiration was with Daniel Libeskind’s Chamberworks drawings. Rhythmic percussion was denoted with a series of quick, hatched lines, and melodious notes with swirling sweeps. Vibrato, common in all the drawings was denoted with jagged strokes punctuating the line, and so on. The song was mapped spatially by analysing the sound stage, achieved by using a high quality stereo recording and, picturing the paper as the stage, mapping out the music as it played.

The first song I looked at was actually a dance, and was in the Bantu category of languages. The dance was the Tschwane that was accompanied by a rhythmic, joyful song. The melody line was short and clipped, and was filled with the sound of cascading and ruffling beads and feathers as the dances moved their clothing rhythmically to the beat. This was a whole-body song that also incorporated mostly female singing and slowly accented by male calls. The song featured isolated percussion instruments, but overall, still managed to convey a certain emotion of happiness, and joy.

For a completely different comparison, I then looked at the romantic compositions of Debussy, and in particular the Clair-De-Lune, the third movement of the famous Suite Bergamasque. This is music without a voice, but of the Indo-European area. Debussy’s song featured nodes of music that slowly cascaded over the course of the song.

The song weaved in and out within itself, with soft trills in the piano, but it was slow, and stately. There were no sharp rhythms, the sound of the instrument being allowed to shine through. The recording was the one completed by the London Symphony Orchestra, and was beautiful its billowing middles in comparison to the piano solo.

The song featured a feeling of peacefulness and reverie, as well as an overall sense of beauty and serenity. The music would slowly fade off into the edges of the sound stage.

(闗山月) a song of the Austronesian region, and Chinese in origin. The song was a complicated one, with the melody played out with an airy flute that trilled for most of it, mimicking the sound of a nightingale. The song although starting small breaks standard rhythms and becomes a form of ordered chaos. The song is freeflowing, with a dense amount of sound coming from the centre of the stage. Large calls of percussion suddenly fall across the song as it progresses, bookending the piece.

It is a song that transitions from breathy minor keys, indicating sorrow, and the slow ritardando of the central song as it descends into a major key indicating hope, stillness and joy.

The Native American songs from the Sioux Tribe cover the Uto-Aztecan regions. The song is more ordered than that of the previous Chinese piece but still with nodes of interest. The song was constant in its major key, with more concentrated bursts of sound on the stage blossoming as the piece continued. There were very similar moments to the Moon Over Wall Gate in Frontier Piece above, but not as full in body. This can be understood in a direct comparison between the two notations.

Abstracting these songs showed that there is an emotional linkage from the song to its visual. This bought forward the question, if architecture is represented through drawing, can we discern a soundscape from it via the visual? This brings forward the idea of phonomnesis – can we create an imagined sound from architecture?

Buildings have associated soundscapes – there are many that with just seeing the imagery with our eyes we create an associated soundscape. The human mind is capable of many things – can we then reverse-engineer architecture via just a soundscape?

The next song was the Moon Over Wall Gate In Frontier

Opposite Page: Musical Notation Drawing of Clair de Lune by Debussy, Indo-European, Ink on Cardstock, A2 Jannette Le, 2013

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Opposite Page: Musical Notation Sioux Tribe Traditional Flute Music, Uto-Aztecan. Ink on Cardstock, A2.

Jannette Le 2013

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Opposite Page: Musical Notation Drawing of Jannette Le, 2013

-The Moon Over Wall Gate in Frontier, Austronesian

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THE MATERIALITY OF SOUND PART 5

“First of all, consider this space. This elevator was so spacious it could have served as an office… it was dead silent. There wasn’t a sound – literally, not one sound – from the moment I stepped inside and the doors slid shut. Deep rivers run quiet. …

I ventured a cough, but it didn’t echo anything like a cough. It seemed flat, like clay thrown against a slick concrete wall. I could hardly believe that dull thud issued from my own body. I tried coughing one more time. The result was the same. So much for coughing.”

Haruki Murakami, Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World, Excerpt from Chapter 1, Elevator, Silence, Overweight.

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Materials themselves have an inherent visual quality.

Stained timbers look “warm” and the sound quality that is associated with timber musical instruments is also warm. Steels and metals seem cold to the touch as well as to the eyes, and many metallic instruments like a flute have that bright, cold sound. These visual triggers can be a prompting device for the soundscapes produced within them. Different materials filter and feed sound back to us with different resonance rates, as well as the shapes that they are built on. By altering these shapes, and the dimensions, we can alter the way the tectonics of the architecture interacts with sound and feeds it back to the person occupying it.

Four quick tests were carried out with these ideas in mind – would timber sound warmer? Would a steel box sound colder? Using a vibrational speaker that only works if another material is used as a resonator, various materials were tested and their effects as a resonator for sound was observed. The tests showed that the hypothesis that timbers sounded “warm” were correct, as well as the fact that hollow objects amplified the sound. The same sound bite was played through the speaker for each material to

retain consistency. The results of the tests are shown in the graphics below. A colour was added to the graphic as an analysis of the sound, when it sounded “warm” the colour was painted such. The first test, with a flat timber board, showed that sounds did not travel well without air directly behind them. The volume was low and muffled but the sound was ‘warm’. Bass notes, which travelled at a lower frequency, were almost completely stopped.

The second test altered the first by creating a hollow cube of timber. The effects were dramatic, the sound was completely amplified and the bass suddenly became extremely strong. The third test kept the dimensions of the second but changed the material to steel. The sound produced was a clear “twang” and was cold. The last test was using a solid concrete block which almost completely blocked out the sound completely. It was interesting to see that the sounds for each material were inherently aligned with the pre-conceptions of what the material would sound like. There was a definite expectation. This once again plays into the ideas of architectural tectonics – the materiality of a room has a certain expected soundscape that is linked to our visual and tactile recognition of the surface.

Explorations in Echo and Refraction, Model (left)

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EXPLORATIONS IN INSTRUMENTATION PART 6

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The language of architecture sits within its tectonics. How can architecture be used to sculpt, capture, and enhance sounds? Architecture has shaped the way music has formed over generations. The Sonic Experience describes how resonance was used in older theatre designs. The oldest Greek and Roman theatres used echeas, or brass vases, tuned to perfect forth, fifths and the octave. They were placed besides the stage and used to amplify the source. Archaeology has found them embedded in walls, arches, and within great domes. 17 As discussed previously, Daniel Libeskind’s Memory Void and Peter Zumthor’s Sound Bath are examples where sound has played an active role in the experience of a space. Acoustics are a funny thing though. The Golden Hall in the Musikverein in Vienna features what is widely regarded as the best concert hall in the world. Theophil Hansen, the Danish architect behind the creation was not versed in Acoustic science – rather, the stunning sound the hall welcomes is somewhat of a happy accident thanks to the riot of detailing along the walls, cornices and columns. It could be argued that the rows of beautiful shapely women adorning the walls help the music along as it bounces off their bodies. This is somewhat true. Many a scientist has looked into the work of Hansen and decided that the multiple surfaces helps the sound bounce and reflect at all angles to the audience. 18 Musical Instruments themselves act as resonators, much like the concert hall. I selected a few instruments to study to see how they resonated sound. What was interesting

was the effect the material had on the perceived sound.

The first, the classic European metal flute showed that it was a perfect resonator. A Chinese flute made of bamboo produced a similar quality but did not have the bright and hard edge of the metal. One of the most interesting instruments to look at was the Erhu, an extremely simple instrument consisting of two steel strings cast over a tightened snake skin on a wooden body. The small cylinder acts as a resonator, translating the vibration of the strings into song. Different woods also had different character, ebony being brighter, sandalwood having a more mellow quality. I also looked at the inner workings of an upright piano, and how it is actually a stringed percussion instrument. The piano uses a series of levers and mallets to hit a wound string to create the sound. It resonates against its wooden body.

In these cases, the wood of the Erhu, the ebony encasing the piano and the cold steel of the flute acted as the backgrounds for the notes to resonate. The human touch was the trigger for the sounds. This can be related back to architecture – human interaction, intervention or creatures of nature cause the sound dynamic to change – however, it is the architecture or lack of it that shapes the sound.

Sound tends to be forgotten in architectural design, even though it is so linked to the final experience of the building. Would the grand Notre Dame seem as amazing if not for the hallowing song that tumbles through its majestic space?

Augoyard, Jean-Francois & Henry Torgue,(eds), The Sonic Experience, Quebec: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008, 107 Tom Service, http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2008/sep/29/classical.music.musikverein, retrieved 23rd of October, 2013 17 18

(Page following, left) The Jewish Museum in Berlin, Daniel Libeskind, Photograph by Jannette Le (Page following, right) The Jewish Museum in Berlin, Memory Void, Daniel Libeskind, Photograph by Jannette Le

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SYNESTHESIA PART 7

““I strained to hear something, anything, but no sound reached my ears. I pressed my ear against the stainless-steel wall. Sure enough, not a sound. All I managed was to leave an outline of my ear on the cold metal. The elevator was made, apparently, of a miracle alloy that absorbed all noise. I tried whistling Danny Boy, but it came out like a dog wheezing with asthma.””

Haruki Murakami, Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World, Excerpt from Chapter 1, Elevator, Silence, Overweight.

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Fig. 10 These two shapes show the idea of a sound associated with an image. Which shape would sound like a “kiki” and which would sound like a “bouba”?

Image: Jannette Le 2013

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As materiality is also associated with sound, visual shapes are also connected in such a way. In their scientific study The shape of boubas: sound-shape correspondences in toddlers and adults, Mauer, Pathman and Mondloch showed that “there are some naturally biased mappings between objects and the sounds and orthographic characters used to present them”. The study illustrated that 95% of English-speaking adults matched the word “bouba” to a round object, and “kiki” to a sharp, starlike object.19 It can be concluded then that humans have a pre-disposition to visualise what a sound looks like. Could it then be hypothesized that a sharp, angular room would produce a “kiki” sound, or a wall that softly curves would have a “bouba” attached to it (fig.10)? The geometry of the architecture can shape a soundtrack for it in our minds. Drawing similarities to other shapes – for example; a wall that is curved inwards like a cup so it “captures” sound can also trigger expectations of the soundscape surrounding the architecture. A structure that is fractured and jagged can trigger the idea of dispersed sounds.

larger, brighter through either post processing of the image or lenses at the time of photography to distort the volume of the space. With current digital technology, we can do the equivalent of “photoshopping” a sound – we can alter it to make the sample seem wider, brighter, sharper – each with a linking connotation of the visual that links them to the sound.

The use of visual indicators to show sound effects has long been used in modern art – especially in the area of comic book strips. These use speech bubbles, “kiki” bubbles and the like to create an imagined soundscape for the story that it is telling.

The modern era of consuming architectural content sometimes reads like a comic book strip – photographs or renders of the proposed project are shown slide after slide on the internet with almost instant gratification.

The imagery is normally manipulated to make the room

Daphne Maurer, Thanujeni Pathman, and Catherine J. Mondloch, “The shape of boubas: sound-shape correspondences in toddlers and adults,” Developmental Science, 9, no.3 (2006), 316-322 19

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The Mechanics of an Upright Piano, Ink on Cardstock, A2

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Your Basket, with your pretty basket Your trowel, with your little trowel, Maiden, picking herbs by this hill-side, I would ask you: Where is your home?

Will you not tell me your name?

Over the spacious Land of Yamato It is I who reign so wide and far, It is I who rule so wide and far.

I myself, as your lord, will tell you Of my home, and my name

Emperor Yuryaku Poem from the Pre-Omi period, example of the Japanese Poetry device of ‘pillow words’ or makura kotoba.

Obtained from 1000 Poems from the Manyoshu: The Complete Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai Translation Photograph by Jannette Le

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THE POETRY OF SOUND PART 8

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Fig. 11 The Kinkakuji pavilion in Japan. The surrounding lakes and placement of trees cut out the pavilion from view at times, creating a sense of pause or anticipation (makura kotoba) Jannette Le, 2011 Australian Sound Artist Dr. Ros Bandt stated that a sound exists through time, and every sound has the ability to occupy a space, with a location, within a fragment of time. Bandt discussed further that sounds have certain characteristics: pitch, duration, dynamics and timbre.20 These same elements can be transferred through the tectonics of architecture. Timbre, the colour of a sound can be readily likened to the colour palette of material palette of architecture. Dynamics can be readily likened to gestures in form. Pitch, as in frequency, is another that can be likened to patterning and rhythm. Duration is a measurement of macro-time and rhythm. A typology study carried out for Japanese stroll gardens showed them to borrow rhythmic elements of Japanese poetry to craft the journey of the user. A particular example of this was the makura kotoba a device in Japanese poetry, which is translated to mean a “pillow word”. Pillow words “modify the words that follows it”,21 as such, it is anticipatory and colours the experience afterwards. A particular example of this pillow-word or pause in a garden is that of the Kinkakuji, where large expanses of calm lakes dot the walk in between the striking Golden Pavilion (fig. 11).

These vistas settle the mind, and change the perception

20 21

of the pavilion when it finally comes into view. These elements of sound can be a palette in architectural composition to alter the state of mind of the user.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words.

Consonance is the close repetition of consonant sounds at the ends of words or syllables.

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or syllables.

Poetic Devices, as described by ReadWriteThink.org Japanese garden designers were also acutely aware of the effect that the spacing of the stepping stones leading around their gardens would have upon the rhythm of the body. Large majestic stones were placed in front of entrances after smaller stones to lengthen the stride and slow down the body. Stones placed a little wider than a lady could step in her bound kimono would create a torrent of laughter and fill the soundscape of the garden.22 The design of space can therefore be used to induce or create a new soundscape, like the planting of certain fruit trees can cause the birds to come and sing in that garden.

Japanese Classics Translation Committee, 1000 Poems from the Manyoshu, Mineola, Dover Publications, 2005, xxi Greg Missingham, Masters of Architecture Design Studio D “Japanese Gardens”, 19th of March 2013.

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FIGURES AND BACKGROUNDS PART 9

Hearing Alleyways, Ink on Cardstock, A2 PHONOMNESIS 106

There is a sonic effect listed in the seminal publication The Sonic Experience which explains the term “metamorphosis” in terms of sound. They described metamorphosis as backgrounds and figures – how a sound is perceived differently by human perception.

The “figure” is the primary sound; the one that grabs your attention, the “background” is the sounds that do not come to the fore. The “background” changes the quality of the figure.23 If architecture, then, is taken as the background – as the item in which the figure paints its characteristics, then architecture can change the way sound is perceived. This links back to Peter Zumthor’s design of the Therme Vals – he was very aware of the background his architecture created, and moved to design a space in which the characteristics of the figures would be distorted, muffled, and fed back by the materiality of his design.

There is an understanding of space that is created by the figures and the background. The figures may be viewed as paint on the canvas – it helps create understanding of space. There is a visual for this – a man or woman climbs to a high point, and cups their hands over their mouths.

They let out a yell of “kooo-eeee!”, and listen as the mountain-scape slowly returns their yell back at them.

Humans understand echo in this way, and can understand that a slowly returning sound represents distance, and the clarity of the sound can indicate materiality.

It is here that Architecture can paint a sound so differently – following on from the paint and canvas analogy, architecture is the canvas, and the paint will always show

23

the base material through. Architecture creates a tonality that alters the way that our figures are returned back to our ears. The human perception of sound then also helps us to understand materiality through the return of the figure. Hard surfaces are crisp, and the sound returned is the same. Surfaces with a lot of fabric is dampened, a surface made of timber can sound hard. Surfaces that sit on hollow walls are amplified, and solid stone walls bounce the sound around.

Similar to the climber on the mountain yelling out into the atmosphere, the return of the sound can also indicate the scale of a space as well as the form that it takes. A long, narrow tunnel has a different return to one that is tall. A concert hall creates a different return to a small classroom.

Through sound then, we can understand form, materiality and volume – tools that are associated with the design of architecture. If then, sound is the only ‘building material’ that we have, could we reverse a sonic visualisation?

Instead of seeing sound in an image like the composers of old, could we instead use sound to create an image?

Augoyard, Jean-Francois & Henry Torgue,(eds), The Sonic Experience, Quebec: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008, 75

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PHONOMNESIS PART 10

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Sound imagined but not actually heard It is said a picture speaks a thousand words. The question I approached with my thesis project was whether the reverse could happen – could we design the architectural image with sound instead?

Can we create space through sound?

Architects have adopted new technologies into their practice. Talks now consist of Building Information Modelling, 3D visualisations, rendering. It is a new fast world where hand drawings are commended for their rarity. Architecture is consumed via the digital image.

Blogs all over the internet are dedicated to the collection of Architectural design, and we devour them, image after image. The question my research led me to was, is there more? Can we add another layer to architectural representation?

Digital sound manipulation is now easier and more accessible than ever. There are voice recorders on mobile phones, and most creative packages have sound manipulation software built-in. The thesis was able to make me realise something much more – How much do we actually listen to our environment? Do architects imagine at all what their spaces sound like once they are built? The profession understands light. Architecture punctures windows with ease so that the beam can fall across the floorboards. Floorboards for that matter – we understand what it will feel like underfoot. We understand the coldness of stone and concrete and

the warmth of timber. But how far does our spatial understanding of the spaces we draw extend? How much would architectural design change once we realised the soundscapes that they created? Acoustic design should not be limited to engineering. Soundscapes have a direct impact on our physical and mental wellbeing.

Julian Treasure discusses how a loud soundscape can raise a person’s blood pressure to the point of cardiac arrest. If we coupled the architectural hero shot with a soundscape of the space, how much would the awareness of our soundscapes change? How would this affect our architecture?

Modern sound manipulation technologies have many techniques available to them that emulate architectural design. By changing the rate of reverberation of a sound we can engineer the sonic volume of the space. Changing the “sharpness” or dampening of a sound can alter the materiality. We can easily manipulate spaces now from timber rooms, stone rooms that bounce around sounds, long tunnels that carry the sound forever forward, to great, cavernous spaces that bounce the sound back to us.

My architectural proposal is a Music School and Concert Hall was a manifestation of the research conducted.

The architecture here would act as the background, and human interaction and music would act as the figures.

Before deciding what I wanted the Architecture to look like, I instead looked at the soundscapes that I wished to create. I wanted my figures played against a great circular room where the sounds would echo and reverberate at

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an equal rate and a long narrow corridor that would shuttle sounds down its’ length. There were to be rooms filled with plush curtains that would absorb music, and great narrow metal drums that would wobble and distort sounds. I wanted to contrast a circular room with a square one, as well as play with sound tracking where we can understand a person walking to our left and right - a room where you would feel a running up a metal stair to the right, and above you. There would be a great musical organ that would shoot up songs through a hardened tower. For respite and contrast an outdoor amphitheatre was imagined where the open air acted as the background instead.

Through the methodology of using a sound program to generate space, I could play with the tools this medium offered to me – scale, form and materiality. These are all broad stroke gestures to what architects design with.

But could there be more? What of the detailing in a soundscape? Can we achieve this as well? Phonomnesis relies much on a person’s past experience with sound.

How much would a passing person be able to understand the architecture from a sound recording? These ideas were all explored. I looked at creating a great dome that would echo my footsteps but you would be able to hear as a bird flew over the oculus.

The architecture was put together for the creation of the soundscapes. The visual was almost secondary.

Phonomnesis relies much on what your perception of the space could be. As a visual interpretation can be altered for each person’s past experiences and the same – and

much more – can be said for a soundscape. If I asked you to imagine the architectural space that accompanied this sound, how much would you discern? How rich would your architectural experience be? I wanted to explore techniques that you would go through designing a building. Can I create an open window? Could you hear the sound of the rain hitting a tin roof as you walked down a corridor? The mind is capable of imagining a great many things, and relying on sound a long requires a suspension of the normal and looking at a different way to approach architecture.

There was a possibility beyond the room. I could change the scale to something unimaginable – to something that is bigger or smaller than what architecture can ever achieve. The technology allows us to do this. It allows us to experience space bodily in a way we cannot visually.

What if I had a room that was a million cubic metres?

How would that affect the space? Could we create architectural space that is visually inconceivable and make it experiential via sound alone?

The success of the project remains to be seen. How much richer is an architectural experience if you can “listen” to the space online as well? Sound is something that can greatly change the perception of space. What if, with our architectural proposals we presented a hero image, and a hero soundscape – how would this then change the awareness of soundscapes in architectural design?

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EPILOGUE - THE END -

Close your eyes – concentrate – and listen to the sound of your own blood flowing through your veins.

Footsteps. Wide, echoing.

Can the soundtrack of architecture transport you?

Can the soundtrack become the architecture itself?

Listening, and hearing is a sense that is often forgotten in architectural design. However, it is a field that is rich in possibilities. The architectural language can be tied to that of sound – in rhythm and colour, in duration and pitch. Architecture, itself an act of form-making, can be used to capture and craft sounds – to filter them, to play with them and reshape the soundscape. The question asked at the beginning of this was how can the tectonics and language of architecture enrich the experience of listening? Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals was an example how materiality can come into play by shattering the sounds and how it can affect the human body. Hiroshi Senju played upon the sonic memory, and the effects that strong colour can have on an imagined sound.

These are the ideas that I wish to explore further in my design response. The Architectural language is visual, but it is also tactile. For example, what are the effects on a person as they walk into the darkness? By limiting site

does it open the mind to the other senses? These are ideas that need to be explored further in design. Listening is inherently linked with the human body – these ideas of background and foreground, and how the effect on the human body has to be tested for effectiveness.

My thesis began with exploring sound itself and its relationship to architecture. I wanted to explore the possibility of creating architectural space without physical boundaries – and using the technology available to us in the present to create a different type of architecture. The concept of this project, Phonomnesis relies heavily on the human mind and psychology and our awareness of what a space should sound like – how an echoing cavern would seem different to a small room. Using this basic human perception, the idea was to manipulate a soundscape and create architecture without physical walls. Designing an Architectural soundscape coupled with the visuals would enhance the experience of space Understanding the soundscape, feeling the size of it, feeling the effects of it on the body, would bring awareness to the scale and size of the design unlike that of a pure visual.

There is more to architectural design than the image.

We experience it beyond the image – as a whole of body, completely encapsulating encounter. Sound is just another layer to the beauty and complexity of space.

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All images and drawings in this book were produced by Jannette Le unless otherwise credited.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Augoyard, Jean François, Andra McCartney, Henry Torgue, and David Paquette. Sonic experience : a guide to everyday sounds / edited by Jean-François Augoyard and Henry Torgue ; translated by Andrea McCartney and David Paquette. n.p.: Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006.

This book written by associates at CRESSON (the Centre for research on sonic space and urban environment) acts as a dictionary of 80 sounds and effects. While also covering some regular sound effects like echo and vibrato, it also introduces some terms and concepts from other cultures such as sharawadji; “the aesthetic effect that characterises the feeling of plenitude that is sometimes created by the sound motif ”, or deeper meaning into ideas such as metamorphosis: “the instability present in structural relations that link parts of an ensemble and the resulting possibility to switch elementary totally through perpetual transition”. Another very useful section was that on resonance, and how resonance has played a part in architecture throughout history. There were very useful scientific explanations as well as more detailed diagrams to explain the concept of resonance. It was also described as a type of echo. The reading led me to explore the different properties of resonance within architectural materials as one of my experiments.

Daphne Maurer, Thanujeni Pathman, and Catherine J. Mondloch, “The shape of boubas: sound-shape correspondences in toddlers and adults,” Developmental Science, 9, no.3 (2006), 316-322 This is a science paper that discusses the idea that certain sounds in the human language are mapped towards a certain shape. What is particulary interesting here is that there is no language barrier for certain shapes and sounds. There is a discussion on the sound of a “kiki” a nonsense word with no meaning but, almost all adults and children associated the sound to a triangular, sharp, star shape. The sound “bouba” on the other hand triggered a round shape. This paper was interesting in that it explored the possibilities that certain shapes can trigger an internal sound dialogue within the human mind, and it opens the opportunity to create silent symphony using the language of architecture.

Stephen Holl, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Alberto Pérez Gómez. Questions of perception : phenomenology of

architecture, San Francisco, CA : William Stout, 2006 Questions of Perception in a collection of writings from three authors who are leaders in their field of phenomenology.

The section that is most informative to me is that written

by Steven Holl where he discusses the perception of a man and their interaction with architecture. Here, the section on the use of sound within his buildings proves to be the most relevant. However, upon reading the essay and examing the works that Holl has presented, it can be concluded that Stephen Holl uses sound as a form-generator. Although he speaks of using sound more atmospherically, the work that he has produced shows a simple graphical correlation to notations of music, rather than the piece of music itself.

Holl’s response to sound is therefore quite visual, aesthetic, and form driven. It is difficult to see the direct correlation between his the songs selected as the visual driver and the response to site, building, or program. His design responses to sound therefore seem quite shallow.

Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects, Birkhäuser, Basel, 2006.

A collection of short essays by Peter Zumthor who discusses how the atmosphere within buildings is recreated from the senses and memories; how these are invoked; and how the human body reacts within these spaces. Particularly interesting is how Zumthor describes sound and how this triggers memory of place. This book was used in particular for the references to the Therme Vals, and how he approached the sonic qualities of the space. It is interesting to see his views on a room, saying that a room collects and transmits sounds elsewhere. He speaks of sensitivity towards materials and their effects on the soundscape of the room. This is inherently fascinating and a completely different way to view spaces in comparison to that of other architects.

Ros Bandt, Michelle Duffy, Dolly MacKinnon (eds.)

Hearing Places: sound, place, time and culture, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, 2007.

This book features a fascinating collection of 37 sound artists who respond to the question “how do we hear and respond to space?” The book is divided into sections, the first explores the significance of listening and how it shapes perceptions.

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The book details how hearing changes the experience of place, section two details with how a space can be constructed and remembered through sound, and how sound can be used to interact with a space in new ways. The book discusses the beauty in the hidden, and appreciating the current soundscapes that we already occupy.

“Soundtracks”, Kristine Bakken, http://versonatura.org/ stijn/soundtracks/ (accessed 7th of June, 2013) This is archive of the Soundtracks project as collected so far

by Kristine Bakken. Bakken describes the idea of sound and its relationship to touch very beautifully and lyrically, and helps to engage the idea of a sonic memory and how it is related to the telling of the past. Bakken hopes to re-create a story telling experience with the use of sound.

Barry Blesser, and Linda-Ruth Salter, Spaces speak, are you listening? : experiencing aural architecture, Cambridge, Mass., London : MIT Press, 2009.

This book acts as an introduction to the topic of “Aural Architecture”. The book combines knowledge from a wide range of disciplines to create a language of aural architecture.

Although heavy and sometimes off-tangent, it acts as a solid base to the concepts of seeing through the use of hearing and using listening to enhance spatial geometry. The book discusses the unique aural experience through different architectural buildings and the impact it has on the human experience.

Boa Baumann, Fritz Hauser, and Hubertus Adam, Architekture Musik (Architecture Music), Sulgen, Niggli, 2011 This fascinating book details the work of Fritz Hauser and his creation of music in relation to space as well as his architectural work inspired by music. The most useful chapter was on Time and Space where Hauser explains his design for a percussion installation upon islands and installations. The images are hauntingly beautiful, with the burnished cymbals appearing out of this mass of darkness. It was fascinating to read how these percussion islands helped to navigate the space through music, creating a path of time through the darkness.

Also useful was his design of his composer’s studio and how a creative space should appear to him.

Veit Erlmann (ed.), Hearing Cultures: Essays on Sound, Listening and Modernity, Berg Publishers, Oxford; New York, 2004.

Erlmann’s book is a critique on the modern era where vision is the defining sense, and discusses the auditory in relation to the visual. He grapples with the changes that the modern era has caused upon the auditory sense, and questions our loss of the use of listening and music in the modern world.

He examines culture and complex issues through the use of

listening as compared to images.

John Cage, and Kyle Gann, Silence : lectures and writings /

by John Cage ; with foreword by Kyle Gann. Middletown, Conn, Wesleyan University Press, 2011.

This was the 50th year edition of the seminal work by John Cage. It is a collection of lectures delivered by Cage which go further to explain the composition of music and its creation of an imaginary landscape. The writing discusses the ideas of zen principles, the ideas of silence and a re-thinking of the concepts of sound, form and time. Although the work is dated, it is considered a landmark publication in the field of composition and sound design.

Douglas Kahn., Noise, Water, Meat, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1999.

This is an interdisciplinary book that introduces sound art in the 20th century. Kahn gives a voice to sound immersion and the sound of things such as viruses and primal screams. The book also discusses the seminal work of some of the greatest sound artists of the 20th century.

Joe Earle ed & trans, Infinite Spaces: The Art and Wisdom of the Japanese Garden, Little Shelford, Cambridge: Galileo Multimedia, 2000. UniM Archit 712.60952 INFI; GKM Infinite Spaces was best read in conjunction with the Sakuteiki as it is a brief version of the seminary text. It also helps by showing illustrations of the most important excerpts.

This is considerably easy to read and does cover many of the points in the Sakuteiki.

Brandon La Belle., and Steve Roden., eds., Site of Sound: Of Architecture and the Ear, Errant Bodies Press, New York, 1999.

This book acts as an introduction to sound related fields – from acoustic engineering to sound artistry and discusses the idea of making music and creating architecture. The book also gives an overview of current issues in the soundscape, how the growing and modernising world is slowly eroding a peaceful soundscape.

Geeta K. Meeta, and Kimie Tada. Japanese Gardens [electronic resource] ; Tranquility, Simplicity, Harmony. n.p.: Kanagawa : Tuttle Publishing, 2012.

This book gives a crash course into the principles of Japanese Gardens. It is useful for its descriptions of the items within the garden, and how they are used in harmony with nature.

Particularly of interest is its use of the “sound of silence”, using a quote from Ishikawa to describe the idea of the shisheodoshi or deer scarer; “Ishikawa must have enjoyed the echo of the shisheodoshi amid the ‘sound of silence’. This

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sentence was quite powerful to me in that it highlighted that when you take away the item you have been given – in this case silence, you come to appreciate it more.

“Evelyn Glennie: How to truly listen”, Evelyn Glennie, TED TALKS, 2003, http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_ glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html?quote=1540 (accessed 8th of June, 2013) This short and powerful talk by Evelyn Glennie discusses the idea of music and its correlation to artistry. Glennie also goes on to discuss how we can expect a sound to come visually, and our brains are even tricked into hearing something when there is nothing there. It is a very entertaining and engaging presentation and is useful in the introduction of creating space and sound.

Japanese Classics Translations Committee, The Manyoshu : the Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkiksi translation of One thousand poems, with the texts in Romaji. / With a new foreword by Donald Keene. n.p.: Mineola : Dover Publications, 2006.

The Manyoshu is a collection of the oldest existing Japanese poetry with most written during the Nara Period. Poetry was explored here for its use in rhythm and pause. Most interesting to me was that of the “makurakotoba” or pillow words – as a pause between major lines of poetry. The use of the pillow word is explained well here and the effects on the words preceding it. The pillow word changes the character of the word after – this is used frequently in the design of Japanese Gardens, where pillow views or shots would be used to frame and influence the view following.

Henri Lefebrve, Rhythmanalysis: space, time and everyday life, trans. S. Elden and G. Moore, Continuum, London; New York, 2004.

From one of the greatest thinkers of our time, Leferbre continues from his previous Production of Space in this book and discusses the intersection of time, body, and space. He interweaves this with discussions of music, rhythm and media and how it shapes space. This is quite a difficult read in terms of vocabulary but was rich with ideas.

Jiro Takei, and Marc P. Keane. 2008. Sakuteiki : visions of the Japanese garden : a modern translation of Japan’s gardening classic, North Clarendon, Vt. : Tuttle, 2008 This is a translation of the Sakuteiki, the oldest text to ever be published on Japanese Gardens, written in the 11th century, and provides a background to the profound thinking and art of Japanese Gardens. This book should be read in reference to the use of rhythm and sounds in a Japanese Garden. The book outlines the use of different trees to attract birds that sing, and water that rushes past to mask certain sounds.

The design of the Japanese garden is not only visual, but the

soundscape is also carefully considered.

“Serenity and Austerity: Therme Vals”,Jeanne Tan, Australian Design Review, http://www. australiandesignreview.com/features/404-serenity-inausterity-therme-vals (accessed 9th of June, 2013) This article by Jeanne Tan discusses her experience in the Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor. What is particularly interesting is her description of the soundscapes that were created in the architecture and the effect that these experiences had on the human body.

Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows, trans. T. Harper and E. G. Seidensticker, Leete’s Island Books, New Haven, Conn.;Sedgwick, 1977.

This is an essay on Japanese aesthetics as written by Tanizaki in 1933, but translated to English. It is considered a seminal text in Japanese aesthetics and discusses the importance of light and dark in comparison to Western and Asian cultures, and how Japanese culture in particular has an importance in shadows.

“Why Architects need to use their ears”, Julian Treasure, TED TALKS, 2012, http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_ treasure_why_architects_need_to_use_their_ears.html (accessed 8th of June, 2013) Why Architects Need to use their ears is a fascinating talk by Julian Treasure, who is an acoustic engineer. He tells of how architects in this day and age rarely consider the soundscape when they design a room. For example, large open plan classrooms look nice, but the soundscape they produce can induce high blood pressure and stress. He argues that architects need to understand sound better to create healthier modern environments.

Juhani Pallasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses, Academy Editions, London, 2005, (1996).

Pallasmaa discusses the idea of a sensory type of architecture, and one that it not dependent on the sense of sight, but experienced through the other senses. This reading was particularly strong in forming the idea that although architects are a visual people, there is an inherent quality of space that is multi-sensory.

R. Murray Schafer, Voices of Tyranny Temples of Silence, Arcana Editions, Canada, 1993.

Schafer is a pioneer in the field of soundscape research and this book is a follow up to some of his other more prominent works. It could be called an update of his research, and includes explanations of soundscapes through history and through the words of some of the most famous writers of our time. The work also explores the soundscapes in other

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countries; of particular interest to me was his description of the soundscapes of Japan.

Sternberg, E. M., Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.; London, 2009, pp. 52-74.

This particular section of healing spaces helps explains the idea of positive soundscapes on the human body, and how the loss of these distractions can not only boost the immune system but calm the mind. The reading expands on the idea of a soundscape being healing, or a view being healing, or being able to reduce stress. It is an interesting read and also quite linked to the ideas of biophillia.

Iannis Xenakis, Music and Architecture: architectural projects, texts and realizations by Iannis Xenakis, The Iannis Xenakis Series no. 1, translated by Sharon Kanach, Pendragon Press, New York, 2008.

Iannis Xenakis is one of the leading architects of the modern era and his relationship to mathematics, sound, and design.

Xenakis worked in Le Corbusier’s office for most of his life, and in that time created some extremely fascinating work in this field. Also a composer, this book is an interesting take on his approach to design and sound. In particular interest was his work on La Tourette and the use of notations and patterns to create the façade system of the building, and his use of mathematics and sound in the design of the Phillip’s Pavillion.

Page following, The City Maze, Ink drawing on Cardstock, A2

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