The Relationship Between People, Architecture, and Sound Resonance
Called Archaeoacoustics
Hiya!
I’ve always had an interest in space. In this case, I mean “space,” as in architecture, interior design, feng shui, etc. I can’t tell you how many treehouses I designed as a kid or how many times I painted or rearranged my room growing up. We don’t think of it often, but the design of our spaces influences us. It can put us at ease or on alert. The way we decorate our homes is a form of self-expression, revealing glimpses of who we are.
Anyway, while I never made it a profession, learning about spatial design is an ongoing interest of mine. Our creativity and engineering while creating a space—whether in the past, present, or future—amazes me. The power of a room’s influence isn’t new. Plenty of evidence shows our pre-historic ancestors were well aware that some spaces are more special than others. Especially acoustically speaking, which I learned when I discovered the existence of archaeoacoustics.
What is Archaeoacoustics?
I’ve known for a while that architecture affects the acoustics of a space. However, I didn’t know a whole sub-genre exists that meshes archeology with musicology and even some psychology. So it’s probably no surprise it’s called archaeoacoustics.
Archaeoacoustics seeks to understand the influence spatial acoustics has on our mental processes. Specifically, researchers want to know how our perception of sound affects our cognitive processes. They achieve this by investigating how our human experience of sound, especially in places of sacred ritual practices, was influenced by acoustic environments in premodern societies. Or, as researchers from the University of Barcelona, Spain, put it:
“Archaeoacoustics is the research field that investigates sound in the past.”
Experts study where ancient ritual practices took place, then use acoustics in an attempt to understand more about the intention behind the ancient architecture. For instance, we know the Greek amphitheater was constructed so each member of the 14,000 people sitting in the audience could hear every word from the stage. Similar techniques have been found throughout the ancient world.
The concept of using architecture as a tool to manipulate sound is such an ingenious and creative idea! I mean common, the way we’ve used curved surfaces, whether circles or semi-circles, to carry the slightest sound, even a whisper, to a location several to hundreds of feet away is incredible. Such places are often referred to as “whispering galleries,” “whispering walls,” or “whispering arches.” Basically, some variation using “whispering” plus whatever the structure is — even whispering benches.
Examples of Acoustics in Human-Made and Natural Architecture
Our ancient human ancestors realized the magic of how sound carries in certain places long before they began constructing temples or monuments. Some experts believe it may have started by noticing the echoes in a cave, which may have appeared as though the cave was speaking back.
Over the years, archaeoacoustics has found plenty of examples of highly acoustic natural formations. Along with plenty of evidence suggesting these locations were considered sacred spaces where ancient rituals may have occurred.
One indicator that such naturally occurring acoustic locations were unique is found in the artwork discovered in many of them. More than that, the art placement often corresponds with where echoes or resonance is most intense.
Horseshoe Canyon
One such place is a three-mile-long chasm in southeastern Utah called Horsehoe Canyon. It’s famous for its eerie pictographs, especially in the Great Gallery, where intricately designed images of life-sized human-like figures dating back between 9000 and 7000 BCE decorate the canyon walls. There aren’t just a few, either. Ancient paintings along Horseshoe Canyon were found in at least 80 locations.
In 1994, biochemist, avocational archaeologist, and archaeoacoustician Steven J. Waller conducted an acoustical survey measuring the echoes in Horseshoe Canyon. He found the rock paintings along the canyon are located precisely where the echo reverberations were most intense.
More than that, the relationship between the location of the artwork and places with echoes of a particular strength predicted another artwork site Waller previously missed. Sure enough, though, barely-visible artwork was found right where his predictions said it would be.
After that, Waller repeated his experiment at hundreds of similar rock art locations worldwide and nearly always found a connection between the echoes and the placement of ancient images. Considering his widespread findings, it seems evident that ancient artists “purposely chose these places because of sound,” Waller suggests.
Plenty of other research indicates that these rock art sites lacked economic functions and were seen more as places with sacred or ritualistic components. Considering the acoustics, many experts suggest music was likely involved — which could be another reason artists favored places with extraordinary acoustics.
Temple of Heaven
Another amazing example is the sprawling 675 acres in Beijing, where the Temple of Heaven was completed in 1420 for the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Within the complex, there are 92 ancient buildings with a total of 600 rooms. According to the World Heritage Convention,
“[The Temple of Heaven] is the most complete existing imperial sacrificial building complex in China and the world's largest existing building complex for offering sacrifice to heaven.”
Everything about it, from its design, location, and planning, used ancient principles regarding numbers and how space should be organized. But also the beliefs at the time about heaven and its relationship with people on Earth, as mediated by the emperor who was viewed as the “Son of Heaven.”
It’s incredible on its own, but there’s a particular feature that dazzles and confuses visitors. It’s known as the “Echo Wall,” and it encircles the entire structure. The wall is 12 feet (3-ish meters) high and has a 213-foot (65 meters) long curvature with tightly packed stonework, which allows your voice to travel the entire wall length.
Grand Central Station in New York City
Even today, there’s no shortage of examples of structures designed with the whispering effect. But I like the Grand Central Station in New York because an estimated 750,000 people walk through it every day, yet I bet many of them walk right past its whispering gallery without even knowing it’s there. But I’ll let you know where to find it.
It’s near the famous Grand Central Oyster Bar, on the lower level. It’s a nondescript area where four arched entryways stand in a square formation. Thanks to the well-known Guastavino tile work in the rotunda’s arches, if you stood facing the wall and whispered something into the archway, then even with the hustle and bustle of people around me, I could hear you perfectly from 30 feet (9-ish meters) away.
In fact, if we tried it at a busy time, I’d probably hear you better through the archway than if I were standing just a mere few feet away. Though interestingly, no one apparently knows whether this special feature was intentional.
Perspective Shift
Honestly, the kid in me lumps the whispering effect with secret passageways and hidden rooms. It’s unexpected, different, and, let’s be honest, fun. I mean, I have no use for any of them, but they’d be cool to have. Just imagine sneaky conversations you could have from a (granted, relatively) short distance without anyone overhearing you. I don’t know what secrets you’d say, but that’s beside the point.
Anyway, I’m sure the architects behind most of the whispering designs weren’t thinking about any of that when they created them. Yet it appears as though at least some of them were used for secretive means (like the whispering bench). Regardless, the fact that they exist at all and that we learned how to incorporate this unique fact of nature into our architecture is awesome. I wonder how we could use other aspects of nature’s ingenuity in our spatial designs.
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I have purchased the "Molecule of More". Very well written and a fascinating mixture of science with personal reality.
Also the old railroad station in Cincinnati has a huge dome where there is a special spot that whispers are heard on the others side.