The Jaffe effect

Abstract

By 1940, nearly every sizable city in America had a movie palace or movie-adapted vaudeville theater. As these regal houses for the silver screen were replaced by cinemas, the palaces and vaudeville theaters of the early 20th century sat with empty stages, taunting orchestras, theater companies, and would be audiences. Christopher Jaffe's most noted contribution to architectural acoustics was championing the adaptive re-use of these theaters through the development of an orchestra shell system. These light-weight shell systems allowed the theaters to support multiple performing arts organizations without a monumental capital campaign that neither the cities nor art organizations could afford. Chris' most singular contribution to acoustics was, however, his mentorship. This maverick in the field, always on a quest to prove himself, never missed an opportunity to share his knowledge or work out a new concept with a colleague or apprentice. He fostered the growth of consultants at all stages of their careers, first in his practice and later in the establishment of an architectural acoustics program at his alma mater.