Categories
Audio Architecture
Pinboard

  • 1. 24hr Design Camp


The Audio Architecture 24hr Design Camp, led by Sam Spurr and David Burns, was a spatial study of dissonance exploring states of instability and their inherent dynamism. Over an intensive 24 hours, students, divided into five teams, explored the creative and collaborative intersections of sound and architecture through workshops, discussions and projects. The studio culminated in a series of performances and installations in Hamer Hall over the opening weekend. This online pinboard documents the conversations, activities and outcomes of the camp.


  • b. Projects

Team Sound
  • Hamer Hall
  • Performance
  • Exhibition

Team Sound enacted an unknown symphony in the foyer of Hamer Hall using a swarm of iPhones.


  • 1. 24hr Design Camp


  • GIF
  • About
  • Audio Architecture

  • b. Projects


During the 24hr Design Camp students broke into teams focusing on Sound, Performance, Image, Space, and Time. They collectively debated the violence of sound, the desire to be subsumed, and the art of silence, building a manifesto on sound and space that would propel them through the night. Embracing the risk of performance and its inherent indeterminacy, the following morning they enacted a series of interventions in Hamer Hall. As physical invitations to participate, these engaged the public in the intimate discussions of the previous 24 hours.


  • 2. Talks

Joel Sanders
  • Architecture
  • Acoustic design
  • Technology

  • a. A Study of Dissonance


  • About
  • Audio Architecture
  • GIF

  • 2. Talks

Philip Samartzis, Kristen Sharp and Stephen Bram
  • Architecture
  • Sound
  • Art

Philip Samartzis, Kristen Sharp and Stephen Bram introduced key visual artists from the twentieth century through until today who have explored sound in creative and dynamic ways.


  • 2. Talks


Preceding the 24hr Design Camp, Audio Architecture Talks brought together some of the world's best-known artists, sound designers and architects to investigate how we can creatively use sound to make better spaces. The half day program was attended by students, professionals and those interested in exploring the sonic qualities of space and the relationship between sound and the built environment. Audio Architecture celebrated the re-development of Melbourne's most iconic performance venue Hamer Hall.


  • b. Projects

Team Time
  • Hamer Hall
  • Performance
  • Exhibition

Team Time created a spontaneous sonic vibration within Hamer Hall using a clarinet, violin and 30 voices.


  • 2. Talks

Lawrence Harvey
  • Sound composition
  • Performance
  • Sound

  • a. A Study of Dissonance

A Study of Dissonance
  • Architecture
  • Sound
  • Performance
  • Hamer Hall

David Burns and Sam Spurr of N lead a spatial study of dissonance over an intensive 24hr period.


  • 1. 24hr Design Camp


  • GIF
  • About
  • Audio Architecture

  • 2. Talks

Ian McDougall & Thomas Scelo
  • Architecture
  • Hamer Hall
  • Acoustic design

Architect Ian McDougall and acoustician Thomas Scelo gave Audio Architecture participants a fascinating insight into their collaboration to redevelop Hamer Hall.


  • b. Projects

Team Space
  • Hamer Hall
  • Performance
  • Exhibition

Team Space's installation consisted of floor and wall mounted copper cones that emitted a soundscape that transcended the physical spaces of Hamer Hall.


  • 2. Talks

Super Critical Mass
  • Sound installation
  • Performance
  • Architecture
  • Sound

  • a. A Study of Dissonance


dis-so-nance : A simultaneous combination of tones conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and needing completion..

Written and directed by Sam Spurr and David Burns of the Sydney-based curatorial collective N, the 24hr Design Camp was a spatial study of "dissonance". Over an intensive 24 hours, students explored the creative and collaborative intersections of sound and architecture through workshops, discussions, performances, and design experiments. The provocation was to create a space in tension, oscillating between harmony and discord, an analysis centering on states of instability and their inherent dynamism.


  • 2. Talks

Barry Truax
  • Technology
  • Sound installation
  • Sound

Barry Truax covered his time with the pioneering World Soundscape Project, his computer music system compositions and early sampling works, and unpacked the concept of granular synthesis.


  • c. Workshop Interludes

Acoustic Ecologies
  • Soundwalks
  • Sound

  • 1. 24hr Design Camp

Time Lapse
  • Video
  • About
  • GIF

  • 2. Talks

Janet Cardiff
  • Sound installation
  • Art
  • Soundwalks

Janet Cardiff spoke about her emotional, suspenseful and intriguing narratives using the power of sound and technology.

The Muriel Lake Incident | 1999 > Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller


  • b. Projects

Team Image
  • Hamer Hall
  • Performance
  • Exhibition

Team Image's project used a variety of sounds to evoke images in the minds of the people visiting Hamer Hall that were different to the physical reality that surrounded them.


  • c. Workshop Interludes

Acoustic Ecologies
  • Soundwalks
  • Sound

  • 1. 24hr Design Camp


  • GIF
  • About
  • Audio Architecture

  • a. A Study of Dissonance


  • About
  • Audio Architecture

  • c. Workshop Interludes

Super Critical Mass
  • Architecture
  • Sound
  • Performance

Super Critical Mass walked camp participants through the creation their own algorithms and flash-mob style performances.


  • c. Workshop Interludes


Camp participants experienced a number of mind expanding workshops throughout the 24 hours. Acoustics Ecologies was presented in two parts - in part one the group explored Melbourne through a guided sound-walk. In part two - participants were introduced to a wide selection of handmade instruments and some of the differences between sound and noise. Super Critical Mass walked camp participants through the creation their own algorithms and flash-mob style performances.


  • 1. 24hr Design Camp


  • GIF
  • About
  • Audio Architecture

  • a. A Study of Dissonance


  • About
  • Audio Architecture

N Instructions:

read a building like a crime scene

talk sensory poetics with a stranger

find a bell and play it in the park

walk through the city and listen

find some friends and play objects together very loudly

write a manifesto on sound and architecture

fight for it

find a cushion and lie down and listen

walk the starlit streets and document it

talk, argue, laugh through the night

make a film, write a poem

find a small, dark place to take a nap

test your theories on your friends

perform your manifesto in a public space

and see what happens...


  • a. A Study of Dissonance

A Study of Dissonance
  • Architecture
  • Sound
  • Performance
  • Hamer Hall

  • b. Projects

Team Performance
  • Hamer Hall
  • Perfomance
  • Exhibition

Team Performance invited audiences to view Hamer Hall as a rested entity - a space without human presence.


  • c. Workshop Interludes

Super Critical Mass
  • Architecture
  • Sound
  • Performance
  • 1. 24hr Design Camp
Time Lapse
  • Video
  • About
  • GIF
Audio Architecture Online Pinboard

Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, Audio Architecture was a 24hr Design Camp and Talks program for students of architecture, art and design. Curated by the Office for Good Design, the program brought together leading architects, sound designers, musicians and artists to contemplate how we can use sound to make better spaces. Audio Architecture marked the re-opening of Hamer Hall, celebrating this new meeting point for sound, architecture and design. The program included a diversity of voices and experiences to give participants a new sense of the value of sound. This online pinboard documents the conversations, activities and outcomes of the camp and talks program. The goal is to provide a lasting resource for anyone interested in acoustics and architecture.