Shape, material and scale

Even though they actually perform the function, Gonzato's Sound Geometries are not speakers, but experiments to arrive at the definition of a teaching method. "They are studies to understand, with practical experience, how sound behaves by varying the three main parameters for designing the acoustics of a space: shape, material and scale".

The research to which Gonzato has dedicated years of work starts from some fundamental questions.

"How do different materials sound? And geometries? What is the impact that a small, medium or large object (perhaps a structure that I can even enter) has on the sound? Can I design a space so that the walls determine the quality of the musical experience? And vary the canons?".

These are themes whose developments will soon be seen: Gonzato is in fact planning to create (and exhibit at Rossana Orlandi) some mini-habitable architectures, designed starting from the experience of sound that he wants to obtain.

An activator of experiences

It is an interesting research that intersects architecture and design with behavioral sciences. Because, like light, sound is a ‘material’ that contributes to the perception of what is around us, a key element in creating the atmosphere of the places we live in. But above all it is an ‘activator’, “a universal language that touches common chords and leads to doing things, in a participatory way, feeling them from within”.

The definition is from the Canadian studio Daily tous les jours which for years has been conducting experiments with music to create “collective human experiences for public spaces”. At FuoriSalone, Daily tous les jours brought (to via Cesare Correnti) two sound street furniture: a bench and a revolving platform to play with, moving to the rhythm, to create melodies.

A social glue

“Over the past ten years, neuroscientists have confirmed what anthropologists and psychologists have been saying for a long time,” explain founders Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat. “That is, that music plays a role as a ‘social glue’, facilitating community cohesion, as happens for example in moments of mourning, commemoration or celebration.

Recently, a study by Stanford University has also proven that rituals that require synchronous activities can produce positive emotions capable of blurring the psychological boundaries between the self and the group. Everything that activates people through sound and leads them to move together therefore predisposes them to cooperation. And, according to this study, it strengthens social bonds within a group well beyond the moment of meeting."

The experiences that Daily tous les jours designs invite a diverse audience to do things together, regardless of their age, ability, or cultural background. “The principles of interaction,” the designers continue, “are easy to understand and our methodology involves the creation of multiple levels of involvement: advanced users play for hours, hasty users for a few minutes.

But there is also observers in the equation: those who prefer to watch others dance, smile, have fun. Neuroscience shows that this type of participatory experience increases the sense of well-being and community in an urban environment.”

An invisible and powerful essence

Sara Ricciardi’s meditative sound installation at Palazzo Litta, Under the Willow Tree, was also dedicated to well-being – individual in this case: a weeping willow in trimmings with tinkling bells (bar chimes) hanging from its branches, to be played with a blow or a light touch.

And it is no coincidence that, to create it, the designer sought the advice of a music therapist and musician, Paolo Borghi, who helped to tune the sound balance of the bar chimes on the branches.

“I am very devoted to the theme of sound,” explains Ricciardi, “which can instigate, pacify, support, stun, induce serenity or restlessness. My first sheet metal office furniture produced cold sounds that put you on alert for quick gestures. While for homes, if you want them to be relaxing places, warm and soft sounds that inspire a sense of calm and protection from the whirlwind of the outside world are beautiful”.

Precisely because of the role it plays in creating atmospheres and activating souls, designing with sound is not easy when it comes to interiors: “It requires great skill for the acoustic strategy you want to use”, continues Ricciardi.

“Sound is an invisible and powerful essence that must be designed first of all at an analog level: in the material structure that we give to our spaces, in the coverings, in the fixtures, in the objects and accessories that act as an ‘orchestra’ in everyday gestures. Combining this universe with the technological element represented by the various audio sources and their distribution in space”.