Architectures of sound: A new material in socio-spatial formation

In architecture, sound is only haphazardly used as an accessory to pre-defined, pre-constituted architectural blocks. The paper examines those sonic properties that are able to alter cognition, behavior, and human interaction leading toward the definition of sound as a material. Over the centuries, buildings have changed their constituent materials ranging from ceramic bricks to concrete, from wood to glass, from light to vapor. Sound is not just a floating, ephemeral presence that exists over time but a solid material that defines and changes the space around us. As a result, spaces are not just lived through their solid elements but through their transposition in the mind of each user. It is for this that by acting on the properties of sound, it is possible to redefine the way people navigate and inhabit spaces. Sound should no longer be used as an accessory or content of architectural spaces but, instead, as a material able to give form, volume, and shape to what is generally referred to as architectur...