The course will address how buildings will respond to sound and enhance our aural experiences, and how designers can model and simulate the acoustical performance of indoor and outdoor space.

About half of the course will be a seminar to develop a basic understanding of the principles of architectural acoustics: how we hear and perceive sound both indoors and outdoors, what are appropriate criteria for listening environments and privacy, and hw architectural decisions of layout, materials, room shape, and design impact what we hear in and about a space. Topics include techniques for good hearing conditions, control of noise in buildings, privacy, mechanical equipment noise, electroacoustics, acoustics of critical listening spaces (like concert halls and studios), and acoustical design tools available to architects. Integrated with this seminar will be a parallel study to understand the role of computer modeling as a tool to enhance the design process. This part of the course will delve into how computer programs can model the sound in a space. Students will have hands-on experience in creating these models, gaining through experience and reinforced during lecture an appreciation for their strengths and their shortcomings. As a culmination of the class, students will build acoustical models and develop auralizations (acoustical simulations) of an engaging space of their choosing, and will compare their simulations to acoustical measurements and real aural experience.

The two parts of the course will be integrated with a series of lectures, problem sets, reading assignments, case studies, computer modeling exercises, field trips for listening and observations and presentations by students, with extensive opportunities for class participation throughout the course. Students will have opportunities to make measurements with sophisticated acoustical analyzers, attend field trips to performance spaces and other spaces of interest on and off MIT's campus, and create their own acoustical models and simulations. Students will be graded on the problem sets, assignments, and final project, and their contributions to class discussions. There will not be a final exam. All undergraduate and graduate students interested in architectural acoustics are welcome to join the class, though prior completion of 4401/4.461 (Architectural Building Systems) is recommended.