Esquis’Sons! Sketching architecture by listening

Théo Marchai,Nicolas Rémy

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20196401006

Théo Marchai, Nicolas Rémy

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20196401006

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Abstract

The Esquis’Sons! application can be used to envision sound atmospheres and prior to designing spaces. The Esquis’Sons application is a compiled module written in the MAX/MSP musical and visual programming language which generates stereophonic sound tracks in relation to geometric parameters extracted from the CAD software Rhinoceros 3D and its plugin Grasshopper. Rhinoceros and Esquis’Sons communicate and sound is played in real time depending on the listening point chosen by the designer and on the architectural scene created. This paper compiles several training periods during which Esquis’Sons has been used in workshop exercises. It also offers material for an architectural study in the rehabilitation of a district. The paper shows that the Esquis’Sons app is a pedagogical tool for designers of space and brings to light several dimensions that are hidden most of the time in the architectural design process: the distance of creation is discussed through the sound immersion offered by Esquis’Sons app. Scales of the architectural project are jostled by the fuzzy limits of sound phenomena and time brings layers of complexity and sensibility in global design.

Highlights

The application is a compiled module written in the musical and visual programming language MAX/MSP [2] that generates stereo soundtracks related to the geometrical parameters of an architectural project designed with Rhinoceros and extracted with the help of the Grasshopper plugin
The Esquis’Sons app is a pedagogical tool for space designers, and it brings to light several dimensions that are hidden most of the time by the domination of the visual sense in the architectural design processes: the question of the distance of creation is discussed by the sound immersion of the designers, scales of the architectural project are jostled by the fuzzy limits of sound phenomena and time bring layers of complexity and sensibility in global design
The Parisian architectural office Particules [17] used an Esquis’Sons! sound sketch to support their scenario for the rehabilitation of the existing buildings

Summary

The notion of sound sketch

As Esquis’Sons is a simple immersion tool that uses stereo sound tracks listened through headphones connected to a computer (or loudspeakers), it is an easy tool to introduce “sound” in the architectural or urban project: the sound scenes created are made of short sounds arranged in loops, selected in the first phase of this research. The inclusion of the sound directly in the formulation of architectural interrogations allows to question the formal, material and functional issues of a building or an urban project – those aspects are all likely to affect the propagation of the sounds. Has been used in several architectural workshops where, each time, students and professional experiment the use of the application in order to create the new sound atmosphere(s) of a place. Observing the designers allows us to discuss three architectural issues that arise from the sound material manipulated

Design from inside: how does it change the way designers look at the project?

Sound is time: what does time bring to the project?

Discussion

Esquissons grasshopper plugin and application