SOUND&ACOUSTIC architecture design

SOUND & ACOUSTIC Architectural design

Philharmonie de Paris The new major music complex: concerts, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and more.

NAME: SEE YU YANG ID: 1001850394 COURSE: DIPLOMA IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES SUBJECT: BUILDING CONSTRUCTION &SCIENCE CODE: AD113

CONTENTS

01 02 03 04

Introduction to sound

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Philharmonie de Paris

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History of Philharmonie de Paris

Characteristic of sound

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Floor plan design of Philharmonie de Paris

Measurement of sound

15 architectuere acoustic

05

Types of stage design &hall design

Building materials & materials of Philharmonie de Paris

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Acoustic design of Philharmonie de Paris

S

ound (or noise) is the result of pressure variations, or oscillations, in an elastic medium (e.g., air, water, solids), generated by a vibrating surface, or turbulent fluid flow. Sound can propagate through a medium such as air, water and solids as longitudinal waves and also as a transverse wave in solids. Sound cannot travel through vacuum. The sound waves are generated by a sound source, such as the vibrating diaphragm of a stereo speaker. The sound source creates vibrations in the surrounding medium. As the source continues to vibrate the medium, the vipropagate away from the source Introduction to sound brations at the speed of sound, thus forming the sound wave. At a fixed distance from the source, the pressure, velocity, and disound is a form of energy, just like electricplacement of the medium vary in time. At ity, heat or light. Everyday your world an instant in time, the pressure, velocity, and displacement vary in space. Example is filled with a multitude of sounds. The like when you striking a bell, it makes a sound that we hear around us is the type of enloud ringing noise. Now instead of just listening to the bell, put your finger on ergy made by the vibration that travels through the bell after you have struck it. Can you the air or any other medium and can be heard feel it shaking? This movement or shaking, i.e. the to and fro motion of the body when it reaches a person’s ear. So, basically is termed as Vibration. The sound moves sound helps us to communicate with others through a medium by alternately contractor let others communicate with you. For ing and expanding parts of the medium it example, we can hear the musical instruments is traveling through. This compression and expansion create a minute pressure differlike tabla, flute, a guitar due to vibration. ence that we perceive as sound.

S 01

Frequency

F

requency in a sound wave refers to the rate of the vibration of the sound or the number of waves that pass by each second, and is measured in Hertz (Hz)

Pitch

P

itch refers to the highness or lowness of a sound.

The pitch of a sound that you hear depends on the frequency of the sound wave. For example, a man’s vocal chords are normally longer and more massive than a female’s voice.

Hence, a male’s voice is low pitched compared to the female’s voice.

characteristic of sound

Loudness

T

he loudness is a sensation of how strong a sound wave is at a place. It is always a relative term and is a dimensionless quantity. The more energy you use, the larger the amplitude the larger the amplitude produces a louder sound.

02

Measurement of sound 03

L

OUDNESS OR VOLUME (ALSO CALLED AMPLITUDE) IS AN IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF SOUND. IT IS A PERCEPTION THAT IS BASED ON A SCALE BETWEEN QUIETNESS TO ANYTHING THAT IS NOT. THE EXPLOSION OF A PLASTIC COVER IN A CLOSED ROOM MIGHT BE HEARD LOUDLY, BUT THE SAME NOISE MAY NOT EVEN BE FELT, ON A NOISY ROAD, WHICH MEANS THAT LOUDNESS IS RELATIVE. LOUDNESS OF SOUND IS MEASURED IN DECIBELS.

T

HE DECIBEL (DB) IS A UNIT, USED TO MEASURE SOUND INTENSITY AND OTHER PHYSICAL QUANTITIES. DECIBELS (DB) IS AN INTRICATE MEASUREMENT OF SOUND LEVELS. A SOUND WAVE‘S ACTUAL AMPLITUDE IS MEASUREABLE , HOWEVER, LOUDNESS IS SUBJECTIVE CONCEPT. SO, DECIBEL IS NOT A UNIT IN THE SENSE THAT A ‘FOOT’ IS. FEET ARE DEFINED QUANTITIES AND DISTANCE. A DECIBEL IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO VALUES OF POWER. OUR STANDARD CONVERSATION HAS AN INTENSITY OF AROUND 50 DB, WHEREAS 20 DB IS THE SOUND LEVEL OF A WHISPER,120 DB IS THE NOISE LEVEL WHEN JET PLANE TAKE OFF. THESE MEASUREMENTS ARE EXPRESSED IN A SPECIFIC FORM CALLED DBSPL I.E. DECIBEL SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL.

Aecom office’s acousticdesign in South Africa, Pretoria

A

RCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS (ALSO KNOWN AS ROOM ACOUSTICS AND BUILDING ACOUSTICS) IS THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING OF ACHIEVING A GOOD SOUND WITHIN A BUILDING AND IS A BRANCH OF ACOUSTICAL ENGINEERING. BUILDING ACOUSTICS IS THE SCIENCE OF CO TROLLING NOISE IN BUILDINGS. THIS INCLUDES THE MINIMISATION OF NOISE TRANSMISSION FROM ONE SPACE TO ANOTHER AND THE CONTROL OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND WITHIN SPACES THEMSELVES. BUILDING ACOUSTICS ARE AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IN THE DESIGN, OPERATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF MOST BUILDINGS, AND CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON HEALTH AND WELLBEING, COMMUNICATION AND PRODUCTIVITY. THEY CAN BE PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN SPACES SUCH AS CONCERT HALLS, RECORDING STUDIOS, LECTURE THEATRES, AND SO ON.THE QUALITY OF SOUND AND ITS INTELLIGIBILITY ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE OFFICES AND HOMES MORE PRODUCTIVE AND PLEASANT PLACES TO WORK AND LIVE IN

Architectural acoustics

B

UILDING ACOUSTICS CAN BE INFLUENCED BY:

. The geometry and volume of a space.

- The sound absorption, transmission and reflection characteristics of surfaces enclosing the space and within the space.

- The sound absorption, transmission and reflection characteristics of materials separating spaces.

- The generation of sound inside or outside the space.

- Airborne sound transmission.

- Impact noise.

tic acous . r e b i faces cled f Recy d wall sur n ing a

l-

or cei

els f al pan

04

thrust stage A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area.

Types of stages

types

Proscenium stages Proscenium stages have an architectural frame, known as the proscenium arch, although not always arched in shape. This type of stage, gives everyone in the audience a good view because the performers need only focus on one direction rather than continually moving around the traverse stage stage to give a good view from allstage sides.is a form of theatrical stage in which the audience A traverse is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other. - An advantage of this style of staging is that it is intimate staging and allows the actors to use the audience for effect.

05

In the round stages In the round stages is a space for theatre in which the audience surrounds the stage. These have a central performance area enclosed by the audience on all sides.

s design

s of hall design

Fan -shaped plan is the most satisfaction plan as person with normal vision can be able to discern facial expressions of the performers when the side walls is arranged to have an angle of not more than 100 degrees with the curtain line 06

Philharmonie de paris,France

07

The Philharmonie de Paris is a cultural institution in Paris, France which combine spaces all dedicated to music. It present forms of music like jazz and world music, consists of concert halls, exhibition halls, rehearsal rooms, educational facilities and so on. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeastern edge of Paris in the 19th arrondissement.30 years in the planning and 8 years in the design and construction, the Philharmonie de Paris, Grande Salle opened in January 2015. The core of this set of spaces is the Grande Salle, La Philharmonie 1, with a capacity of 2,400 seats designed by architect, Jean Nouvel and opened in January 2015.

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P

hilharmonie de Paris is a cultural institution in Paris, France which combine spaces all dedi al rooms, educational facilities and so on. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de ment.30 years in the planning and 8 years in the design and construction, the Philharmonie de P spaces is the Grande Salle, La Philharmonie 1, with a capacity of 2,400 seats designed by architec been delayed about 20 years, complete the current musical institution the CitĂŠ de la Musique des called the Philharmonie 2.Mainly dedicated to the symphonic concerts, the Philharmonie de Par 09

Philharmonie de Paris,France

icated to music. It consists of concert halls, exhibition halls, rehearsla Villette at the northeastern edge of Paris in the 19th arrondisseParis, Grande Salle opened in January 2015. The core of this set of ct, Jean Nouvel and opened in January 2015. Its construction has signed by Christian de Portzamparc and opened in 1995 and now ris also presents other forms of music like jazz and world music 10

History of Philharmonnie de Paris

The idea of a new concert hall for Paris was first launched in 1970 The administration of President François Mitterrand promoted “major projects” or modern monuments in Paris during the 80s, a program that included creation of Villette Park complex, which includes the Museum of Music, a concert hall and now the Philharmonic, City of Music. At that time the construction of a new opera, with Bastille Opera House, had priority over a broad new concert hall, and the decision to go ahead with the Philharmonic was delayed until 2006.

In 2007, Jean Nouvel won a competition to design the new building although its construction did not begin until 2010, with costs shared between the French government with 45%, the city of Paris 45% and the Regional Council of Ile-de-France the 10 %. At a time when jobs were delayed because of financing difficulties from the government imposed austerity measures in 2011, but finally the Philharmonie de Paris was inaugurated on January 14, 2015.

Despite its inauguration controversy it seems to accompany this project. The architect responsible for its design Jean Nouvel boycotted the opening, arguing that “….the structure was not nearly complete…., No acoustic tests and architectural finishes and techniq

The project had already been mired in controversy after spiralling costs and delays had caused the price to al million) up to an estimated €387 million (£280 million). Nouvel claimed he’d been used as a scapegoat for th suggestions that they were in any way responsible.

Visitors waiting to enter the Philharmonie de Paris during an open house in January 2015. The opening ceremony was attended by French President François Hollande, but boycotted by the architect.

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Picture above show that the Philharmonie de Paris is under construction

ques were not respected…..”

lmost double, from an initial figure of €200 million (£145 hese cost overruns, and defended himself and his firm against “The building is not finished.’“There were no acoustic tests of the concert hall. The schedule did not allow the architectural and technical requirements to be respected. This despite all the warnings which I have been giving since 2013.” said Nouvel French architect, Jean nouvel 12

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Name: Philharmonie de Paris Owner: Philharmonie de Paris Architecture: Jean Nouvel Acoustics: Harold Marshall (Marshall Day Acoustics) – Toyota - Eckhard Kahle Total Area: 39,642m2 Usable area: 20,000m2 Façade: covered with 340,000 aluminium birds in 7 different shapes and 4 colours.

La Grande Salle acoustic volume: 35,000m3 Surface area: 2,200m2 Height: 22m Distance between the conductor and the furthest spectator: 32m Capacity: With the audience seated: 2,400 With standing room in the stalls: 3,600 Models supplied: Philharmonie seats: 1,800 Philharmonie fixed back seats: 282 MiniSpace seats: 319 Oxymore seats: 308

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Floor plan design The hall has a ‘vineyard-style’ seating arrangement similar to that of Walt Disney Hall, in Los Angeles; so the audience are arrayed on raised terraces surrounding an orchestra platform.

The vineyard model also allows the public to occupy seats behind the orchestra when they are not needed for a choir. design plan at main floor and 1st balcony level

At the design’s unveiling at the Cité de la Musique, Nouvel said: “The novelty of the auditorium is to ‘suspend’ balconies so they will be attached to the building by access passages in a way that allows sound waves to circulate around and behind them. The idea is that the audience will be in the middle of the music.”

Suspended over the auditorium is a series of acoustical canopies, resembling flat clouds that can be lowered and raised to suit the orchestra and programme. Adjustments will be needed, for concerts of different music such as jazz and world music, which were also planned for the hall.

design plan at 2nd balcony level

design plan at stage canopy level

design plan cross section

design plan longitudinal section

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The Philharmonie de Paris, an audacious building As well as providing a contemporary performance space, the Philharmonie de Paris is the first dedicated professional music facility in the city, with offices, a library and exhibition space.

The building has a floor space of approximately 20,000m² and includes an organic flowing asymmetric design, featuring annexes, rehearsal spaces, an educational wing, a library, and a restaurant, as well as the necessary infrastructure for the transport of instruments and a car park.

Glowing softly within the grey and silver folds of its edifice, Jean Nouvel’s Philharmonie concert hall features a powerful monomaterial aesthetic of cast aluminium with silvery highlight against deep black accents.

The dark accents are created with a powder coating solution from Axalta. Powder coating is a type of coating that applied as a dry powder. It is normally applied electrostatically and then cured under to heat to form a durable ‘skin’ on the surface of materials, in particular metals and composite materials.

Tourbillon Overflowing from these flat, sharpedged façades, the heart of the building is covered with bright stainless steel plate (Uginox Bright). Called the Tourbillon (whirlpool) and developed by Bureau HDA, this volume, highlighted in this manner, seems to escape from inside. It corresponds to the spaces of the foyer of the great hall. This curved wall is built in such a way as to form two distinct skins - the outer cladding and a watertight inner wall - each defined according to distinct geometric principles. The space between the two allows access for maintenance.

With a surface area of nearly 7000m², the cladding is a collection of stainless steel scales laid out in a freeform manner determined by the architects.

The geometry follows a NURBS (Non- uniform rational B-spline) model. It is characterized by a mixture of zones of double convex, concave and, in some places, almost flat curves. With a thickness of 1.5 mm, the stainless steel sheets are fixed on a three-dimensional structural system combining flat sheets for the frames and curved tubes. These are connected to the edges of the floor with rods.

In contrast to the matt outer layer, the shiny appearance of the stainless steel exaggerates the surrounding landscape. Besides its aesthetic appearance, the smoothness of its surface helps to limit the deposition of dust and pollution residues.

The particularly aggressive atmosphere near the Périphérique justified the choice of grade of austenitic stainless steel

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Building construction and materials Mirror of movement Outside, the metallic cladding of its angular shapes and, conversely, curves provides a distorted reflection of the landscape and the movements around it, confusing distance and scale. Elements collide. The main design of the façades, in a nod to M.C. Escher, assembles seven different models of a stylised bird to form the aluminium coating in four shades of matt grey: flocks of birds form as the light changes. rehearsal room

‘Adjustable Stage’ One of the features that make the Philharmonie de Paris a single room between concert halls of Europe is its versatility. To develop this aspect, Atelier Jean Nouvel, worked in partnership with Metra & Associés, and specialists in stage design for concert hall with the aim that the audience had the ability to adapt to different musical genres, always offering optimal viewing and the same listening conditions. In symphonic settings, the public around the orchestra. The stands behind the stage can accommodate a choir if necessary for the work presented, but more often are occupied by spectators. But in the case of concerts or operas or ‘cine-concerts’ (film screening with live music), the modular concept allows these levels can be eliminated and the stage moved back, increasing the parterre. Another innovative feature is that the seats in the parterre can be removed to allow the public to watch the concert standing.

‘AJUSTABLE SEAT’ Another innovative feature is that the seats in the parterre can be removed to leave stand¬ing room for contemporary music concerts, increasing capacity from 2,400 to 3,650 people. Lastly, particular care was taken to ensure the audience’s comfort: the distance between seat rows is at least 90 cm, and all seats are 52 to 55 cm wide. The Philhar¬monie de Paris has adopted the Haute Qual¬ité Environnementale (high environmental quality) approach, with its NF standard cer¬tification that is awarded for best practices in environmental performance and requires the fulfilment of very demanding criteria fo¬cused in particular on four priority areas.

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Technological Innovation

T

he monumental structure of the concert hall was designed to break the assembly into sub-assemblies and components simple but unique, in particular: • the “cloud” floating balconies in the room and are only linked by discrete points.

• the iconic and external vertical giant screen 100m long and 50m high.

• the roof of the building that acts as a sound barrier and viewing platform for the public and collecting rainwater.

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Acoustic design SETTING A BENCHMARK IN ACOUSTICS

T

he winning design, architect Jean Nouvel and acoustician Marshall Day Acoustics, proposed nested spaces: a single volume design with floating balconies and ceiling reflectors to create subdivisions of the volume. Contrary to traditional reverberation chamber design, the coupling areas were not variable but fixed, defined by the balcony designs. Variable absorption was included in the outer volume to provide variable acoustics. Additional details are described in a companion paper.4 As this proposed design was far from conventional, various design tools were employed by the design team to refine the details over the course of the project.

These included geometrical acoustic computer simulations5,6, architectural feature criteria7, and finally a 1:10 acoustic scale model. Recent studies have highlighted similarities and discrepancies between numerical simulations and scale model measurements in the case of coupled volumes.8,9 The use of all these methods was deemed essential for the elaboration of such a challenging design 19

The acoustical programme (drawn up by Kahle Acoustics) called for great clarity of sound combined with high reverberation, as well as significant lateral reflections and a close, intimate feeling — all to be achieved within a new typology. The solution was found in a daring system of float-

ing balconies which creates the intimacy, and the outer chamber, which produces the high reverberation. This new model interweaves lateral reflections, direct sound and reverberation, to achieve excellent clarity and transparency within a warm, enveloping resonance.

Another acoustical feat, of a different sort but no less remarkable, is to have succeeded in soundproofing the hall against outside noise, which is considerable given the Philharmonie’s location near Boulevard Sérurier, the Péripherique (ring road around Paris) and the Zénith. This was achieved by Studio DAP using the ‘box within a box’ concept, i.e., by leaving a space between the walls. In this respect as well, the hall adheres to the poetic yet highly technical notion of a ‘floating auditorium’.

The hall is soundproofed from the outside noise through the “box within a box “concept by leaving space between the wall.With the combination of two space that fit into each other,an interior floating room hosts the audience,creating visual and acoustic intimacy between the audience and the musiciance and an outer space with its own acoustic and

aarchitectural presence.An innovation that is simultaneously architectural,scenographic and acoustic.The architect and the hall’s main acoustic consultant,sir harold marshall,designed this hall in collaborative sessions focused on combining architecture,acoustic, and scenography.

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Picture shown above is 1:10 scale model of Philharmonie de Paris

The Challenge: a seat of demanding acoustic requirements The challenge of the project for the engineers and designers of Figueras, laid in creating a seat with low acoustic absorption in a highly cushioned seat with warm thick upholstery which would otherwise be highly absorbent.

This did allow higher reverberation to be generated not interfering in the perfect acoustics of the hall. A team of 12 Figueras experts ‐ designers and engineers‐ were involved in the project, which took several months of intensive work.

The Figueras team, led by the Figueras Design Centre ‐ a centre which mission is to turn the ideas and drawings of the seats conceived by architects into reality ‐ worked personally with Jean Nouvel Ateliers team. Also with the acoustic engineers and stage designers to ensure that the seating designed by Jean Nouvel Ateliers fulfilled the demanding acoustic requirements and contributed to the hall’s exceptional all‐round acoustics.

The seat designed is wide and well‐cushioned, but it had to perform as it wasn’t. Various changes to the seating and up to 10 acoustic tests, in laboratories in Paris and Barcelona, were needed to achieve the desired product.

To achieve the desired level of absorption it was necessary to fill the thick cushions with non absorbent materials leaving the least possible soft foam thickness properly shaped and located to create an ergonomic shape that would guarantee a comfortable experience.

The Philharmonie seat is a tailor‐made product that adapts perfectly to all corners of the undulating hall. It is finished in 8 different upholstery colours, 5 different widths and 4 different shades of wood. The wood was treated to get the maximum possible shine, much like pianos, and the different coloured seats mark out different areas, in accordance with the architect’s criteria.

1,800 Philharmonie model seats were installed, which feature a synchronised back and seat mechanism so that it takes up the minimum amount of space when folded up.

The hall also has 282 seats in a variation on the same model with a fixed back for shallow tiers for the areas in the stands which are not very deep.

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DETAILED DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION

In

Rhino Based Design

2008-2009, during the schematic design phase, most of the acoustic work was carried out directly in Rhinoceros 3D modeling software. If it is an obvious option today, it was not common practice at the time.

Potential early reflecting surfaces, “nuages”, the balcony fronts and the balcony walls “ribbons”, were subdivided into small elements. Basic ray-tracing was carried out manually, one ray at the time, in Rhino to determine the desirable orientation for each element we called them “pixels”, representing the subdivision of the reflecting surface.

Information such as time delay (∆t), level difference (∆L) with the direct sound and the reverberant sound level became readily available to optimize the design and ensure that the right “pixel” was creating early lateral reflections for the right audience area. At the end of the schematic design, more than 40 pixels where used for “nuages”, 34 for the “ribbons” and 19 for the balcony fronts.

Picture above:Rhino model with Early Reflecting Surfaces shown in Red

Grasshopper Design

In

2008, the parametric design tool Grasshopper became available.

MDA developed a tool within Grasshopper that allowed ray tracing to take place in real time while a surface was being manipulated in 3D. This allowed not only the rapid analysis of the models received from the architect but also the rapid regeneration of surfaces. The tools developed within Grasshopper to assist with the Philharmonie de Paris were presented in separate paper (Scelo, 2015). The Rhino/Grasshopper suite of tools includes routines to reorient surfaces, adjust curvature of surfaces, automate the coverage of a large audience area by combining the coverage from multiple reflectors and ensure that all reflections met the requirements for early lateral reflections as defined by Barron and Marshall (Barron & Marshall, 1981). This approach was used for all surfaces identified as potential sources of early lateral reflections, including stage support. Most of these where finalized during week long workshops, in real-time with the architects, builder and client.

Picture above show the reflection pattern from one nuage external volume interior volume adjustable canopy acoustic reflectors

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acoustic shell absorbent curtains

Details of Sound absorber,chair

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References https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Building_acoustics https://www.aplustopper.com/characteristics-of-sound-waves/ https://www.designboom.com/architecture/jean-nouvel-philharmonie-de-paris-is-under-construction/ http://parisdesignagenda.com/philharmonie-de-paris-designed-by-jean-nouvel/ https://issuu.com/philharmoniedeparis/docs/carnet-plans-et-images https://www.lafargeholcim.com/lafargeholcim-concrete-new-philharmonie-de-paris-building https://archello.com/project/philharmonie-de-paris-2 https://archinect.com/news/article/149957892/unique-seating-for-the-philharmonie-deparis-how-to-create-a-seat-with-low-acoustic-absorption-for-a-perfect-symphony-hall https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/institution/architecture/philharmonie https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/philharmonieparis/ http://www.nagata.co.jp/e_news/news1503-e.html https://iq.intel.com.au/15-design-secrets-of-modern-concert-halls/ https://www.galasystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GS_Philharmonie_ ENG.pdf 24