• DEAD SILENT

  • Anechoic Chambers •

  Though an anechoic chamber may resemble a form of medieval torture device, these scientific facilities perform a role that is quite benign. Sound waves in the chamber are trapped between the surfaces of spiked foam or fibreglass baffles lining the walls. This creates an endless rebounding effect until the waves are absorbed, eliminating echo and sound decay to produce an environment ideal for recording and testing sound equipment. The resulting silence is so profound that minute bodily noises become intensified – a heartbeat, the sound of swallowing, the rustling of clothing and the movement of bone and muscle suddenly seem deafening. While some describe experiencing the dead silence as tranquil, others can feel panicked and even nauseated, or report hallucinations. In these spaces there’s nothing to hear but yourself. I (ssl)

  Anechoic chambers register at about -9 decibels, whereas the human ear can only register sounds above 0. Alastair Philip Wiper photographed the anechoic chambers of Denmark’s Technical University for a series on the beauty of scientific research facilities.
  

• COVER

  COVER

  Cover

  Acoustics
• Table of contents

  Table of contents
• EDITORIAL

  EDITORIAL

  Editorial

  Acoustics
• ESSAY

  ESSAY

  The Hear and Now

  Jonathan Bell in conversation with Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics

  Text: Jonathan Bell
• FOUND

  FOUND

  Parabolic Poem

  The Philips Pavilion

  Text: Elvia Wilk
• CASE STUDY

  CASE STUDY

  Pump up the Volume

  Arata Isozaki and Anish Kapoor’s inflatable concert hall

  Text: Rob Wilson
• FOUND

  FOUND

  Dead Silent

  Anechoic Chambers

  Text: Susie S. Lee
• ESSAY

  ESSAY

  Aural Prosthesis

  Lev Bratishenko on Arup’s Soundlab and the rise of virtual acoustics

  Text: Lev Bratishenko
• FOUND

  FOUND

  David Byrne

  "Playing the Building"

  Text: Elvia Wilk
• CASE STUDY

  CASE STUDY

  DeafSpace

  Sound Practice for accessibility

  Text: Elvia Wilk
• CASE STUDY

  CASE STUDY

  Symphony in Concrete

  Hans Scharoun's Philharmonie

  Text: Sophie Lovell
• INTERVIEW

  INTERVIEW

  His Master’s Voice

  Interview with Edgar Wisniewski, Hans Scharoun's "silent" partner

  Text: Sophie Lovell
• CASE STUDY

  CASE STUDY

  Play it Loud

  Soundsystems designed for supergroups

  Text: Leigh Theodore Vlassis
• FOUND

  FOUND

  Yuri Suzuki

  "Ishin-Den-Shin"

  Text: Elvia Wilk
• CASE STUDY

  CASE STUDY

  Music Boxes

  Vredenberg Concert Hall in Utrecht

  Text: Thomas Dieben
• ESSAY

  ESSAY

  Acoustic Ecology

  Planning urban soundscapes

  Text: Melonie Bayl-Smith
• BOOKMARKED

  BOOKMARKED

  Bookmarked

  Guest reviewed by Carson Chan

  Text: Carson Chan
• KLAUSTOON

  KLAUSTOON

  Klaustoon

  XIV. Intermission: A Vision of the Pneumatic Passage I - Amaphonia

  Text: Klaus
• NEXT

  NEXT

  Next

  Water

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