Kirk Newton Assignment 6B

The tile for my cinematheque is designed to mitigate the monolithic quality that the ceiling has for each individual theater. The first image shows show the single surface, representative of the flat concrete ceiling surface present in the original theater disperses sound in a method that only serves those sitting in the center well.

 The flat surface disperses sound too equally, while the distributed polygons of the tiles disperse sound in a way that disguises the source of the sound. The dispersion created by the tiles obfuscates the original source of the sound, creating an immersive sound experience for moviegoers not sitting directly in the center of the theater.

Notice how the monolithic theater ceiling condition--shown in the three images to the left--radially distributes the sound in the theater. Anyone sitting in the center of the theater receives an equal level of sound in either ear. Should someone sit to the left, the sound balance will be biased towards the right ear, and vice versa. Aural discrepancies in volume play directly into where people perceive a source of sound are; in this case the aural discrepancy will heightenan audience member's awareness of their less-than-optimal seat location. Inevitably, poor sound balance detracts from the movie experience, hence the inclusion of the tiles to disguise the sound source.

The above three images show how the tiles distribute the sound into overlapping packets. While the design does not entirely mitigate the effect of a single sound source, the overlap diminishes the intensity of it. Therefore the inclusion of the tiles has the effect of making the aural experience marginally more comfortable for viewers sitting further from the optimal center-line of the theater.

The following two images show details of the tiles and their tessellated layout. The small circular perforations help with sound absorption and reduce echoes.