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TEACHING ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS impact insulation class (IIC); reverberation time (RT); noise criteria (NC); noise reduction coefficient (NRC); and impulse response (IR), clarity (C50 and C80), and speech transmission index (STI). It is also important to point stu- dents to physical scale models and software as tools for learning and developing spatial relationships. Students are also introduced to codes, regulations, and guidelines that contribute to aural environments. Building codes and various organizations including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Living Building Challenge, the American Institute of Archi- tects (AIA) Framework/Committee on the Environment (COTE), the International Well Building Institute, the Whole Building Design Guide, and The 9 Foundations of a Healthy Building (see 9foundations.com) uphold occupant health, safety, and welfare and advocate for acoustics. The report 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design (see terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns) show- cases several aspects of physiological and psychological restoration through access to nature sounds. Students quickly realize the practically countless aspects of archi- tecture and acoustics are a result of (1) “static” materials and form of the space and (2) “dynamic” interactions (interior and exterior): how people, materials, systems, and weather interact. It would not be fair to merely focus on airborne sound as the star of the acoustics world. Architecture is a vehicle for all abilities and lies somewhere between form and func- tion. In 1896, architect Louis Sullivan coined “form follows function.” The function of the built environment offers an experiential aural environment seldom discussed or pre- sented in the general realm of architecture. It leaves some of us questioning how the function of the space can be sup- ported/successful without attention to how the space sounds. We should not always gravitate toward people with hearing abilities as the only occupants; we need to also account for humans with limited or no ability to hear, animals, tech- nology, and artificial intelligence. During an interview in 1959, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, “Architec- ture starts when you carefully put two bricks together,” but acousticians are likely asking, for example, “Are the bricks shifted out of plane to create diffusion, what is the cubic volume and RT of the resultant space, and what are the STC and NRC values.” Let us also then realize specific acoustical criteria results from the form of the space defined by the surrounding materials. Another branch of teaching includes inviting guest lec- turers from various disciplines, participating in project reviews, reading invited and accepted conference and paper presentations, leading Continuing Education/ Learning Unit sessions for various organizations and design professionals, and presenting at school career days that allow for the chance to introduce and inform diverse audiences other than clients and students about the far- reaching aspects of architectural acoustics. Required Courses: Blending into Everyday Curriculum The required semester-based Architectural Design Studios, Systems, and Materials and Methods courses in the BArch and MArch programs for which I am assigned include students from other disciplines. Regardless of the course description, most goals and objectives in my courses also include a relationship with architectural acoustics. If the assignment is about rhythm, patterns, or composition, I tie it back to music. If discussions are about point, line, plane, and spatial relationships (aka beginning design standard lessons), I offer comments about how decisions made Figure 1. Top: example of a design studio where students craft additive and subtractive models using materials such as wood, acrylic, foam, and Hydro-Stone. Bottom: wall- mounted and ceiling-hung models from an assignment focused on developing articulated panels that provide lighting and acoustic interactions. 26 Acoustics Today • Summer 2022