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DIPASUPIL, JOHN JOEL A.

ARC - 3203

LIST OF PROJECTS THAT IS TREATED MOSTLY WITH ACOUSTICS

1. Tvísöngur, Iceland

Nestled on a mountainside overlooking a fjord, the Icelandic ‘Tvísöngur’ is a concrete sculpture


for sound, open for anyone to visit. Five domes combine to form a network of vaults. Each is designed to
amplify a resonance distinct from the other, so the overall space echoes the Icelandic musical tradition of
five-tone harmony.

2. Forest Megaphones, Estonia

Architecture can also amplify the natural noises around us. These wooden ‘Ruup’ megaphones in
Estonia’s Võru County were constructed in September 2015 to harness the sounds of the forest. Designed
by students and planted amongst the trees, the ‘bandstands’ vary in size and form but, at 3m diameter,
they are the perfect size to climb into.
3. Fertőrákos Cave Theatre, Hungary

A quarry might seem an unlikely destination for an opera but people across the world are wising
up to the potential of these vast, cavernous spaces. The Hungarian Fertőrákos Cave Theatre recently
reopened following renovation work, while Portugal’s Estremoz marble quarries host performances on an
ad hoc basis. Sound resonates within their solid walls in an interplay with light and shadow.

4. The Music Hall at the Āli Qapu Palace, Iran

Further evidence of a nation using architecture to enhance its traditional music takes us to Iran –
amid some 17th-century mud bricks, to be precise. The Āli Qapu Palace Music Hall’s magnificent vaulted
ceilings create an umbrella of niches overhead, which mean a low reverberation time for sound – ideal
for intimate music, and specifically, Iranian ballads.
5. Denge sound mirrors, UK

On the UK coast near Dungeness, ‘sound mirrors’ are part of the landscape. These concrete
forms, ranging from 20 to 200 feet wide, were constructed in the 1920s as early warning devices for
approaching enemy planes. When aircraft and radar technology advanced, they quickly became
redundant but the sonic qualities of these enduring landmarks remain.

6. The Danish Music Museum, Denmark

Building materials and textures can accentuate very specific sounds. At The Danish Music
Museum, housed inside a former broadcasting house in Copenhagen, architecture practice Adept has
shaped, perforated and padded each room’s timber-lined walls to enhance the sounds of strings, brass,
percussion or a full orchestra in the space.
7. Brunel Museum, UK

In 1825, a two-decade long project to construct a pedestrian tunnel network beneath London’s
Thames river began. Nearly 200 years on, trains rather than pedestrians speed through the tunnels, yet
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s grand Rotherhithe entrance shaft remains open. Keiko Sumida recently
directed an opera in the space and speaks of ‘an adventure-like feeling to the show. The acoustics were
challenging and there was an amusing “whispering gallery” effect.’ See upcoming events.

8. Ekko, Denmark

Take artist Thilo Frank’s twisting ‘Ekko’ in Denmark. The timber-framed soundwalk is peppered
with microphones and speakers, recording and playing back on loop the sounds you make as you cross
the boardwalk, moving through twisting paths of shadow and light.
9. The Whispering Gallery at St Paul’s Cathedral, UK

The whispering gallery phenomenon – where a noise you make on one side of a space can be
clearly heard on another – is often unintentional. Yet, at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, it draws tourists in
droves. Mutter a little something into the gallery wall and it can be heard on the other side of the 33m
diameter dome.

10. Prenzlauer Berg water tower and tanks, Berlin

Dark, subterranean spaces, such as water tanks or tunnels, can heighten disorientation and,
in doing so, intensify a sonic experience. A combination of light and sound reflection, both physical and
digital, enhances visitors’ senses in the installations of German artist Robert Henke. Listen below to
his Eternal Darkness installation in a Berlin water reservoir.

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