1. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20101 Aural Architecture Contributes to the Experience of Space and Place Dr. Barry Blesser Dr. Linda-Ruth Salter www.SpacesSpeak.com

2. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20102 Part I: Sensing Your Location Where are you now? How do you know? How do you feel? Where do you want to be? We will provide the concepts that answer these questions from an aural perspective.

3. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20103 Inside a Physical and Social Space

4. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20104 Sensory Deprivation: Spaceless

5. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201055 Senses Determine Your Location Senses have different properties: Area of coverage Duration and time Transport mechanism Source that can be sensed Robust or fragile Cognitive fusing of sensory contributions

6. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20106 Sensory Anthropology Hausa cultures view of senses Functional definition, not biology Cultural relativism You are how you live Cognitive strategies of preference

7. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201077 Uniqueness of Sound Flows around obstacles, into openings Reveals the interior state of objects Requires action energy to create Contains time sequence, never static Can radiate over distance Multiple sources overlap No respect for private property

8. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201088 Uniqueness of Hearing More than for music and speech Evolutionary optimization for survival Echolocation among many species Control of direction of visual focus No ear-lids, involuntary access Emotional connection to people Broadcasts high speed actions

9. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 20109 Hearing Serves a Function Instant awareness of dynamic events Emotional channel in social context Experience of disability workers Elderly in 1950s English study Functional deafness is event isolation Embedded in a movie space 9

10. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201010 Definition of an Eventscape An aural event is a natural, intentional, or accidental conversion of mechanical energy into sound, which is then broadcast to the inhabitants of a space. An eventscape is the composite of temporal & spatial distributed dynamic events that are transported to listeners.

11. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201011 Soundscape as Eventscape Natural & human events create sound Events can be located in space Sonic Language based on events Embedded in an event panorama Events compete for our attention Event identify, evokes place

12. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201012 Initial Answers to Questions Q: Where are you now? A: Embedded in social and physical worlds composed of static objects (landscape) and dynamic activities (eventscape). Q: How do you know where you are? A: By hearing events and seeing objects. 12

13. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201013 Evaluating Eventscapes Each listener uses unique criteria A sonic event may be Pleasing or distracting Helpful or irrelevant Comforting or threatening Events compete for limited resources Aural combat and sonic niches Cognitive loading and arousal

14. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201014 Part II: Aural Architecture Definition: The aural influence of passive objects and geometries on the emotions, perceptions, and behavior of inhabitants of a space. Every space has both an acoustic and aural architecture, but they describe different properties of the space. 14

15. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201015 Experiencing Aural Architecture 1.Divides a space into separate and independent eventscapes. 2.Changes aural character of events as they move from source to listener. 3.Like a landscape, objects can be experienced directly when illuminated by sonic events. 15

16. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201016 Influence of Aural Architecture Modifies emotional connections Influences behavior of inhabitants Winners and losers in aural combat Cultural preferences: politicized Auditory spatial awareness is learned Inadequacy of common language

17. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201017 Auditory Spatial Awareness Singer in Howes Cavern Baboon in African Cave Lunch crowd at busy pub Ear training with hand clapping sequence: Dry Bathroom Living room Water tank Large atrium Reflecting wall Dry

18. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201018 Spatiality without a Space

19. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201019 Language of Aural Architecture Social spatiality Navigational spatiality Musical spatiality Aesthetic spatiality Symbolic spatiality Others yet to be discovered

20. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201020 Social Spatiality Acoustic arenas and horizons Citizenship in French villages Dining at restaurant Children in backyard Activities in living room Privacy by shrinking arenas

21. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201021 One Aural (Social) Space

22. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201022 Social Measures of Distance Intimate (lover) Personal (good friend) Conversational (colleague) Public (lecturer, musician) Does social distance match acoustic horizon?

23. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201023 Navigational Spatiality Hearing passive objects & geometries Open door way Nearby wall Rugs and upholstery Size of closet, cave, cathedral Low ceiling Curved and domed surfaces Volume of enclosed space

24. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201024 Blind Teenagers in Mountains

25. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201025 Musical Spatiality Reverberation as temporal spreading Meta-instruments incorporates temporal spreading Created by performance space (recording studio) Reverberation as spatial spreading Enveloping reverberation as aural caffeine Created in reproduction topology and space Artistic space: with contradictions Musical rules in electro-acoustic space Concert hall does it all: historic artifact

26. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201026 Stockhausen in Jeta Caves

27. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201027 1930s and Dry Spaces (HiFi)

28. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201028 Aesthetic Spatiality Unique local acoustics Spatial variety and diversity Aural wallpaper Reduces sensory boredom Often artifact of visual embellishments Spatial niches with unique personality

29. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201029 Semperes Sculpture in Madrid

30. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201030 Symbolic Spatiality Acquires meaning from cultural exposure Linked to other senses Earcon as parallel to icon Often acquires religious meaning Examples: Bell sounds in pre-Columbian Mexico Aeolian harp: wind creates music of spheres Pyramids at Kukulkan as sacred Quetzal bird Cathedral as Gods home

31. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201031 Shrine at Chester Cathedral

32. Part III: Everyone Has Choices Aural architecture looks at the dynamic relationship between people and place, mediated through hearing.

33. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201033 The Eventscape Internal mental representation and external physical world (sonic events and aural architecture).

34. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201034 Designers Make Choices Designers make choices about the permanent physical qualities of a space.

35. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201035 Inhabitants Make Choices Willingly enter Choose to avoid Shut themselves off Adjust the contents Modify locations Inhabitants make choices about how they will experience a space:

36. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201036 Technology Provides Choices Changing technologies give us more choices. Choices affect how we hear space.

37. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201037 From Amphitheaters to iPods

38. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201038 Basilica of Saint Apollinaris

39. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201039 Notre Dame 12 th -14 th C

40. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201040 Early Music Salons

41. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201041 Sydney Opera House 1973

42. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201042 Transporting a Sonic Event Moving a sonic event to new space Dry source without spatial acoustics Listeners remain in local eventscape

43. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201043 Eventscape Transports the Listener Modern electronics can now create a complete (natural and virtual) eventscape in video games, headphones, movie theaters, home theaters, and automobiles.

44. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201044 Menu of Aural Experiences Technology offers designers and inhabitants choices about the kind of aural spaces that will be experienced. Lets not focus on the technology, but rather on the array of choices and their implications for the experience of the aural space.

45. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201045 Overlaid Eventscapes Functional deafness Democratic Individual control Double exposure Existing in multiple eventscapes (aural spaces) at the same time

46. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201046 Combat in the Eventscape Dueling auditory arenas, shared resource, power matters, social isolation, trance-like state.

47. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201047 Multiple Eventscapes in Daily Life

48. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201048 Uniform Globalized Spaces Shopping malls from around the world

49. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201049 Whos in Charge? Designers can influence the aural horizons of the inhabitants. Inhabitants adapt to the acoustic properties created by the designers. Answer: both designers and inhabitants control the eventscape

50. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201050 Insiders & Outsiders Outsiders Architects, planners, designers and artists create spaces with physical acoustics and embedded sounds Space creators are seldom the inhabitants of a space, and the eventscape cannot be controlled by outsiders Insiders Inhabit the space during their daily lives They experience the eventscape, which includes the sounds created by all ephemeral inhabitants Modify when possible to suit preferences

51. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201051 Eventscapes: Season to Taste

52. 5/20/2010Blesser-Salter © 201052 Summary & Conclusion Do not focus exclusively on external concrete forms or internal mental experiences. The interaction between the two is important: the aural experience of a space. With common concepts & language, dialog and compromise become possible.