Acoustic Design Tools

Giving back: Arthur van der Harten, Sr. Consultant will be participating in a workshop utilizing his open source software, Pachyderm, for students at University College London. This remote skype workshop will help aspiring design professionals become more aware of and build skills in acoustics and simulation. In addition to serving as a practical way to better predict how sound will function in a built space, these computer models can be leveraged as a powerful means of educating design team members and clients of design choice implications.

This is the second such session with Paul Bavister of University College London and Luca Dellatorre of Anderson Acoustics, the first of which was performed in person a year ago. Arthur has also provided similar workshops for universities in Beijing, Melbourne and Aalborg.

Course Description: The Control of Noise module will be looking at concepts on designing for sound; the development of acoustic spaces, their behaviour and occupation. The course will address the issues that impact the understanding of ‘sound’ in an architectural context. Key concerns address notions of sound from performance and the production of sound to more physical aspects of acoustic control, spatial volume, materiality, surface densities, absorption and reflection, all leading to the perception of sound, and the phenomenon of listening. These are the major design drivers for the architecture and engineering that shape our experience of sound. By use of case studies and key guest speakers, the course seeks to engender a critique on current acoustic design methodologies alongside speculative thinking on acoustic futures.

The module is delivered in the winter / spring terms as a set of 10 lectures / seminars and includes a number of invited speakers and exercises. The content of the module is complemented by site visits to key acoustic locations during the term.’

Link to Course Website