Shape of Sound

by Victoria Meyers

For the past 20 years, Victoria Meyers, a Founding Partner of hanrahanMeyers architects, has crafted an architectural and urban design practice that includes sound as an intimate aspect of the designed environment.
Meyers analyses the shape of sound; architecture and sound; form; materiality; windows; the urban soundscape, its politics, aesthetics and social character; reflection; virtuality; sound art; and silence. This sequel to Designing with Light offers new theoretical insights into sound and the spatial experience accompanied by several key case studies. These include Meyers' work with Stephen Vitiello, whose piece A Bell For Every Minute animated the New York High Line project, and her collaborations with composer and sound artist Michael Schumacher. Digital Water i-Pavilion, located opposite Ground Zero in Manhattan, has proved particularly innovative: Schumacher's score, developed
especially for the building, has been etched into a glass facade which can be 'played' by the public via an app; onlookers direct their mobile phones at the glass to read and hear the music.
Sound is not simply music however, and Meyers reflects upon this in her quest for an understanding of architecture as an auditory environment, through examples of buildings and materials which inspire and possess characteristic sonic properties.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2014

About the author

Victoria Meyers, hMa, founding partner of hanrahan Meyers architects (hMa), practices architecture in New York and Los Angeles, and specializes in designing buildings that use light, sound, and other natural phenomenon as material aspects of design: www.hanrahanMeyers.com; www.VictoriaMeyers.com.

Meyers has authored three books on her architectural works: Shape of Sound; Designing with Light; and The 4 States of Architecture, co-authored with Thomas Hanrahan.

hMa's most recent project is DWi-P, Digital Water i-Pavilion, in New York City, opposite the World Trade Center Memorial. DWi-P features a 550-foot long, interactive glass wall, at the edge of the 'Murray /Warren Street Sound Passage'. The 'Sound Passage' is an hMa designed walkway where visitors use cellphones to interact with a 550-foot long glass wall, and hear a composition by Composer and collaborator, Michael J. Schumacher. hMa's Sound Wal(k) offers the public access to a biomorphically responsive glass system.

Watch for more progress with communicative surfaces, as Meyers works on her latest project, a house for a Silicon Valley executive, with an interactive skin designed as a 'alien communication device'. More to come soon!

Meyers is currently working on a new book, linking architecture and wind.

Reviews

[Jch1964 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and fascinating book about one aspect of architectural design. It made me appreciate how involved good architectural design is. Of most interest to those in the field. I received this book as a goodreads giveaway.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book quite intriguing. I liked how there would be a set of pictures so you could really focus on what was going on and than there would be a paragraph describing it later. I would def reccommend others check it out as well.