Alyssa Hamilton: Acoustic Research

Architectural acoustics is the art/science/engineering of creative a pleasing melodic sound within a space, volume, or building. Wallace Sabine's Fogg Museum was the first to work with architectural acoustics. The science can be used to create spaces that focus on the clarity of sound, suppression of sound, or the ambiance.
Interior spaces are based on materiality and surface geometry to either absorb or reflect sound in such a way that aids the reverberation within the space. Too much reverberation and speech is muffled for audience members. Too little and the speech will not carry throughout the space.
There are many principles for creating pleasant acoustics depending on the architectural space. As stated in wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_acoustics):
There are three ways to improve workplace acoustics and solve workplace sound problems – the ABCs.

• A = Absorb (via drapes, carpets, ceiling tiles, etc.)

• B = Block (via panels, walls, floors, ceilings and layout)

• C = Cover-up (via sound masking)

While all three of these are recommended to achieve optimal results, C = Cover-up by increasing background sound produces the most dramatic improvement in speech privacy – with the least disruption and typically the lowest cost.
Principles such as these are applied to almost every architectural space in order to create a aurally pleasant experience for the inhabitants.

Example Work: The Aelous PavilionLuke Jerram designed this art/architecture piece to literally "sing in the wind". Its meant to give a unique acoustics experience by interpreting the winds direction and intensity and transforming it into beautiful music.