Date of Submission
Spring 5-9-2023
Degree Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Architecture
Department
Architecture
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Selen Okcu
Abstract
The design of acoustic spaces depends on many factors such as the size and shape of the room, the materiality of the walls and ceiling, and the type of sound in the space. When designing a room for music performance, the reverberation time, sound reflection, and sound diffusion are also main factors to design around. The issue when designing optimized acoustic spaces is that it is hard to test out the acoustic performance during the design process. Since size, shape, and material of the space all affect the sound quality, digital simulation is one of the only ways to test if our design is working appropriately. Parametric design tools can speed up the design process not only by allowing for digital simulation, but also by allowing for instant feedback and control of input parameters at every step.
The design of room diffusers is a common way to optimize the sound quality of a room by scattering the sound waves at targeted frequencies. My goal is to use parametric design to create custom diffusers that provide optimal performance. Parametric design will allow me to create custom diffusers for the concert hall I will design, and tools such as Grasshopper and Pachyderm will allow for fast iterations and feedback at every step to help achieve optimization. The end result of this project will be an optimized concert hall that features custom designed diffusers.