Architecture of the Sonorous

Abstract

This thesis proposes that architecture act as a soundscape mediator to activate a heightened level of engagement between landscape and people.

Western society historically regarded sight as a privileged sense and artistic devices introduced in the Renaissance have shaped the way we relate to landscape through architecture. Architecture is commonly treated as a frame through which landscape is viewed, accustoming us to being spectators of rather than participants with our surroundings.

To shift away from this static relationship this research prioritises acoustic considerations over visual ones, appealing to the dynamic and immersive sense of hearing to invite participation between architecture, landscape and people. R. Murray Schafer’s Soundscape Philosophy informs a design method where the architecture composes an acoustic environment in the landscape. The proposition was interrogated through a series of design experiments for a ‘Glamorous Camping’ structure sited in the Ngā Pōtiki Reserve on New Zealand’s Southern Wairarapa Coast.

The use of Soundscape Philosophy in architectural design allows architecture to provide an experience of landscape that is immersive and holistic. The architecture is dispersed both formally and acoustically through the landscape, blurring the distinctions between them physically and acoustically. Appealing to the auditory sense shifts how people relate to landscape through architecture, so that it becomes a framework within which landscape can be experienced.