Page 32 - Summer2022

TEACHING ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS tests and field validation, researchers demonstrated the structural, thermal, economical, and acoustical values of SCEB as a viable residential building material. in a formal jury setting but by their real-time reaction to their personal interaction. On Display Students have also constructed instruments and loudspeakers as part of an assignment or as an expression of their interests to unite acoustics and craft into particular listening envi- ronments. A disabled veteran student who is legally deaf in one ear created loudspeaker enclosures linked to a wall stud cavity that was displayed at a local art gallery. The wall cavity between framing members and the wall finish was part of the installation, thereby actively integrating acoustics into archi- tecture. People were able to hear and experience what the student created related to an occupied space. It was not just theory but was demonstrated through creating and making. Acoustically Diffuse and Absorbent Lightweight Aerated Concrete Students in the spring 2017 acoustics elective course began the initial process of basic data collection that led to prototypes, modeling in various software applica- tions including EASE, feasibility studies, and compiling Interactive Synchronicity Another small group of students designed, constructed, and calibrated an inhabitable interactive installation based on the Buskuhl Gallery space in the OU GCA Gould Hall's lively acoustics and outward display to campus, employing excessive reverberation time and resonance as a method of visually demonstrating the persistence of sound waves. The amalgamation of materials and acoustical sensors defined the visual translation of acoustical impulses into rhythmic patterns and textures of light. People quickly realized the lights were triggered by airborne impulses such as voices or laughter, and impact impulses such as footfall or slam- ming doors. They equated continual light flutter to lingering impulses outside human perception. Some participants were instantly provoked to make more or specific sounds to cause illumination, whereas others attempted to cease the dancing lights. People physically inhabiting the space were the participants and critics, not by their words as comments Figure 7. Top left: student developing concrete mixes in various size compression strength test cylinders. Top right: student placing acoustically diffuse and absorbent lightweight aerated concrete (ADALAC) panels in the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories reverberation chamber. Bottom: close-up photographs of both the sawtooth (left) and recessed (right) prototype panels showing shapes and surface porosity responsible for reflection, diffusion, and absorption. 32 Acoustics Today • Summer 2022