The Acoustics Approach to New Towns and Buildings Planning

James Wing Ho Wong Allied Acoustics, Allied Environmental Consultants Limited, Hong Kong The CentreStage Limited, Hong Kong American Conservatory of Music, Belize
Abstract: Sound have been known to affect the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual states. Sound affects pulse rate, skin temperature, blood pressure, muscle tension, and brain wave activity. It helps release biochemicals, such as endorphins. It relaxes, excites, releases emotions, and helps to travel to altered states of consciousness. Sound has been applied in architectural design in ancient times and recent years, it helps in healing all those disease in which stress plays a role. This study develop advanced acoustic design concepts in use of sound healing in new towns and buildings planning. Harmonic building design and town planning is an exciting and emerging field that links the ancient sciences and arts with sound and vibration to heal the spirit, mind and body. The goal is to assist the individual and community at large in establishing healthier patterns for living in wholeness. It draws fundamentally on a unified view of the cosmos in which all things are inextricably bound and in relationship to one another whether it be an organ system, a family or an ecosystem. When our bodies experience an illness or disharmony, this will initially develop within the organizational energy matrices. The energy matrix of the body's cellular makeup is made up of a highly complex multitude of frequency interactions. When the body is subject to sound stimulation, it sets up a series of harmonic oscillations that influence a change in phase and frequency in the energy field or matrix on the cellular level. The result will be to reorganize the energetic matrix back to a more balanced state. This paper investigate how does sound and harmonic healing work. What is a typical resonance based building look like? What is the underlying concept about resonance healthy communities and how can Harmonic Town Planning design techniques be applied to create healthy communities. Keywords: Acoustics, Town, Planning, Field, Healing, Stress, Harmonic, Architecture, Design, Body, Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Fibonacci, Lambdoma, Golden Mean, Tonal Line

1.

Introduction

Today, high energy density living environment has become a norm for city dwellers. Many of us living in Hong Kong realised that buildings can have a profound influence on our health and our psychic and spiritual state of be-ing. In the ancient Eastern philosophy, we believe people live in two state of consciousness, irrespective of their conditioning, irrespective of their believe systems. They live either in a Conflict state or a Unity state. A conflict state is a state of unrest, a state of disquiet, a state where there are so many parts of oneself that are right, there are so many parts of oneself that are wrong, that one has made wrong, or society has made wrong or schooling has made wrong. These various fragmented parts of oneself are fighting with each other and result a continuous disturbing internal chatter. The unity state is one of connectedness, is one of love, and is one of relationship. One experience the sense of relationship, with all that is around and in fact a better relationship with ones own self. It is to feel one with all life. Most of us have experienced both these states of consciousness, but it is also possible that we are spending the larger pat of the day in any one particular state. Harmony and balance, light and colour, relationship to landscape, ecological sympathy, energy efficiency and geometric form are contributing elements of shelter
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which aspires to be nurturing rather than draining. We resonate at both cellular and consciousness levels with our environment. By creating an environment around us that is supportive to both our inner and our outer senses, we can enhance rather than alienate our human links with nature. Architecture, when employed as a means of embodying principles of universal harmony can sustain us rather than drain us, so that our homes become our havens, and our work places support our creativity. Since the start of millennium Year 2000, Allied Acoustics has been using advance acoustic design concepts in use of sound healing in our projects. "Much like changing a television channel and tuning to a different broadcast, we can use frequencies of sound to retune our vibratory state to a new channel of harmony." -- 1 Deborah Van Dyke

2.

Architecture as Sound

In the world of natural phenomena, it is the underlying patterns of geometric form, proportion and associated wave frequencies that give rise to all perceptions and identifications. Therein lies our fundamental capacity to relate, to interpret and to know. In the biological realms, replication, continuity and diversity are established through the vehicle of genetic coding within the substance of the DNA. It is not just the molecules of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen that determine the replicating power of DNA, but its helix form and the geometric proportions and relationships within it. Our ability to create music and interpret sounds depends on our body's capacity to mechanically interpret wave patterns, not through quantitative differences but proportional differences. All our bodily senses work because our nerve receptors are able to attune to variations in proportion of input frequencies. Even our sense of smell is reliant on our ability to interpret the geometric construction rather than the molecular substance of a perfume. Our visual sense differs from our sense of touch only because the nerves of the retina are not tuned to the same range of frequencies as the nerves embedded in our skin. Hidden within the architecture of material existence are the geometric forms, the building blocks which make life possible as we know it. The architecture of the buildings we inhabit as our dwellings, our work places, our healing and education centres, and our churches and temples, has similar impact on our senses as the architecture of nature. Apart from any psychological influences, it is mainly the geometric spaces and the materials of the structures that influence our responses. Our sense of proportion tells us when a space or object is harmonious, and our mood responds accordingly. In much the same way we identify sounds as being pleasing or otherwise according to their wave frequencies and the proportional relationships between combinations of different notes. It is our spatial awareness that connects us or repels us with items that we normally perceive to be remote and external to us. It is a biological relationship that occurs at the cellular level between the myriad components of our physicality. During many years of designing and building, our project team members observed the responses of people to different geometric forms that I had incorporated into my structures. I observed that certain forms, as a consequence of their proportions or their geometry or both, seemed to evoke favourable responses. I also observed there was a 3-dimensional or nonsquare element to those spaces. On the other hand I observed little or no response to the conventional square spaces most commonly found in modern architecture. It appears that ancient Egypt's architects were quite sophisticated astronomers and 'sky travelers'. What is more, the structures also have unique acoustical effects and according to the dimensions and design of the chambers, powerful effects could be engineered with the use of certain sounds and music within the temples. Passing beneath the large figurative zodiac painted on the ceiling, I was reminded of a statement I heard years ago, that human life will never reach its full potential until our lives become a mirror of nature. Most cultures previous to the current industrial and technologically based societies, took into account not only the terrestrial but also the celestial cycles in designing their temples. 2"The sky and its stars make music in you." Denderah Temple wall inscription in Egypt showed how the ancient philosophy in relating human to our surroundings. As early as about 2 4,000 B.C, the Egyptian mystery schools found that sound and geometry were inextricably linked. Later, the ancient Greeks used the "Pythagorean Table," also known as the
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Lambdoma (See Figure 1), as one of the first tools to translate mathematic harmonics into their equivalent sound counterparts. Figure 2 shows the 3-D Lambdoma harmonics and grid. Figure 1 - The Lambdoma, Tetractys and Tetragrammaton arranged as Tetractys.

Figure 2 - a) This "circular lambdoma" shows how musical harmonic proportions can translate to physical dimensions and visa versa. b). The Lambdoma Grid.

a).

b).

To play music, we use our fingers, and the size of their joints actually forms a mathematical pattern called a Fibonacci Sequence. It is very clear when we look at the profile of a human face from the side and apply this shape on it. We see Fibonacci spirals with different scales and get sequences of the Fibonacci curve with different square sizes. Musical frequencies are based on Fibonacci ratios. Notes in the scale of western music are based on natural harmonics that are created by ratios of frequencies. Ratios found in the first seven numbers of the Fibonacci series (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8) are related to key frequencies of musical notes. The calculated frequency starts with A440 and applies the Fibonacci relationships. In practice, pianos are tuned to a "tempered" frequency, a man-made adaptation devised to provide improved tonality when playing in various keys. Pluck a string on a guitar, however, and search for the harmonics by lightly touching the string without making it touch the frets and one will find pure Fibonacci relationships. It has been suggested by 3 James Paul Furia and others that A432 be the standard. A432 was often used by classical composers and results in a tuning of the whole number frequencies that are connected to numbers used in the construction of a variety of ancient works and sacred sites, such as the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 4Pythagoras holistic healing programs incorporated healing herbs, a vegetarian diet, and musical formulas to direct and balance the passions. It is said that he composed musical potions with the lyre and voice based on cosmic harmonics to heal maladies of the physical body, the emotions and the spirit. Furia's theory reveals a relationship between the notes of the musical scale, the location and shapes of hundreds of ancient monuments, and the exact distance and location of stars, planets and constellation. "When the principles of harmony and tone are applied, the pyramids speak! In this way, all mathematics has a hidden a sound component. As such, the harmonics embedded within the architecture of a building are like tuning forks, resonating to the sonic harmonics, which they reflect. The mathematics used to construct certain Egyptian temples were so carefully attuned to the inner sonic vibrations that certain temples were known to emit sound!

3.

The Space - Sonic Resonator

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It has been said that architecture is frozen sound. Seen in this way, the ancient temples, and Gothic cathedrals act as sonic resonators. By consciously introducing sound into the temples' harmonic construction, they act as sonic resonators attuning and aligning us with their heavenly vibrations. At the Cathedral at Chartres in France (Figure 3a.), 14 underground streams converge where the choir stands and sings. It would appear that the intention of the design was to use the sacred geometry of the temple as a sonic resonator. Chartres is designed according to proportions which obey the law of the Golden Mean, 1.618 (phi). In Chartres, distances between pillars and the lengths of the nave, transepts, and the choir are all multiples of the Golden Mean. The ribs supporting the vaults of the quadrangular units of which the cathedral is composed are the shape of the golden rectangle. The overall ground plan design of Chartres is a Latin Cross, symbolizing Light of the Cross, where Spirit and Matter come together. Sound has been applied in architectural design in recent years in our projects. Design properly, it helps in healing all those disease in which stress plays a role. The first project I have taken this acoustics design approach to building projects was The Jireh Concert Hall (Figure 3b) and The Chapel (Figure 4) at the International Christian Quality Music School (ICQM) in Hong Kong (completed in 2004). I have subsequently designed many architectural acoustics projects using the Golden Mean proportions. Figure 3 - Golden Mean Spaces a). Interior of Chartres Cathedral, France (c.1193-1250); b)The Jireh Concert Hall, ICQM, Hong Kong (Allied Acoustics, c. 2000-2004).

a)

b)

Figure 4 - The Chapel, ICQM, Hong Kong (Allied Acoustics, c. 2000-2004)

4.

Stressors Cause Stress

The concept of stress in biology and medicine was first conceived in the 1930s. Not only does an organism respond to a stressor or healthchallenging stimulus with a specific response that is appropriate; it also produces a nonspecific response. For example, if the body temperature is too high, perspiration is the specific response that serves to cool the body through evaporation, and there
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are also a host of nonspecific responses which is the stress response. For example, in humans, the stress response includes the typical fight-or-flight response in which adrenalin is released and a cascade of biochemical and physiological events occur. These lead to an increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, reduced immune function, and many other changes at various systemic levels. This nonspecific response to a stressor is the stress response. Stressors may impact one or more levels of biological organization. There are a host of appropriate biological responses to stressors that enable organisms to counteract them, adapt, and survive. Humans face innumerable stressors each day. There are mental and emotional as well as physical stressors that provoke the stress response. Physical stressors include all physical challenges to our health and well being, such as temperature extremes, poor nutrition or hydration, extreme physical exertion, lack of restful sleep, toxic substances, air and water pollution, and other forms of pollution such as electromagnetic fields (EMF). Most of us are exposed to multiple stressors on a daily basis, both transient and constant forms. All of these stressors disturb homeostasis, the tendency of the body to maintain a dynamic equilibrium of functional balance. Researchers in music and body such as 5Beverly Rubik, 6Eric Clarke, 7James Kennaway, 8Youn Kim, etc. has bring musicology and the psychology together, linked sound to sickness, from the nervous over-stimulation physical damage to the analogy of connecting psychology and cultural history.

5.

How Does Sound Work in Healing

Living systems are engaged in constant conversation or signaling with their constituents and the environment, constantly exchanging information. This can be physically demonstrated in Sympathetic Resonance - with two identical tuning forks are mounted on wooden resonance boxes. One of the tuning forks is excited and immediately dampened. The second tuning fork will resonate in sympathy with the first. Sound, either in direct transmission or reflection, can heal a person by causing changes in brainwave activity and by altering a persons heart and breathing rates. Sound can be recreated to offer relief from a distressing encounter and particular sound frequencies can dissolve mental blocks. Sound is vibration and it travels through water 5 times faster thru air, and since humans are almost 80 percent water, we feel vibrations easily. Certain sound vibrations enhance cell function, balance the meridians, and others cause disruption in the harmonic field of the body which can lead to illness.

6.

What is a Typical Acoustical Resonance Building Look Like

Embodied and embedded, the acoustical resonance building complex design would follow the natural law of music as a prosthesis of the self. Therefore, the building complex would follow the flow of the Fibonacci series and the Lambdoma Grid. It is necessary to understand that our body as obstacle and as facilitator, that the body/space as conceptual metaphor or psyche. The design would taken up embodiment, entrainment and sociality seriously. I have identified examples (Figure 5) of this approach in some existing building designs. Figure 5 Resonance Based Buildings Far left: a). Tokyo Midtown by SOM Left b). National Museum of African American History and Culture by Foster and Partners

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7.

Harmonic Town Planning Design Approach

We have witnessed the results of the mediocre town planners in may cities around the world, which have adopted the levels of sun light, ventilation, transportation, ridge line and sight lines as key town planning parameters. In our evolution in town planning, like meridians in our body, Axi-A Tonal Lines (Axiatonal Lines or Axiom Lines) should be the key points to be identified in the design process where rotating single-axis "flash-line sequence" transmission lines form the embodied cross over and through each other to form Primary Horizontal and Vertical Flow Lines in the area. The acoustical Tonal Lines create the web-work of energy by which the frequencies of the core geometrical grid. Each Tonal Lines corresponds to a Dimension, local harmonic template, transportation hubs, activity centres and dimensional level of zones, and carries the the primary wave-length of the corresponding Dimension. Dimensions are fixed groupings of activity or energy centers (zones) within a specific, geometrically arranged form, build upon existing units, of certain acoustical pattern or Manifestation Template. Figure 6 show the photomontage of Mongkok Lambdoma Midtown. Figure 6 - The Mongkok Lambdoma Midtown

8.

Conclusion

In consideration of stress related illnesses within our societies, natural continuum of acoustical design techniques which can be applied to create healthy communities in new towns and building planning is presented. Based on ancient and existing knowledge of sound and human body, the concept is extended to many of our design projects. Acknowledgments International Christian Quality Music School - Designed by Hsin Yieh Architects and Allied Acoustics, Allied Environmental Consultants, Hong Kong Tokyo Midtown - Designed by SOM, USA National Museum of African American History and Culture - Designed by Foster and Partners, England. References and links 11Traveling the Sacred Sound Current, Deborah Van Dyke (2001, Sound Current Audio CD ASIN: B00005NVWC) 2 Cymatics Experiment in the Great Pyramid, John Stuart Reid, Vera Gadman (2011); Sonic Age Ltd. http://www.cymascope.com/cyma_research/egyptology.html 3"Geomusic The Forbidden Archeology of James Paul Furia" (2005, UFOTV Item #K534 DVD UPC 7 09629 90534 4) 4 The Medicine of Ancient Greece. From the notes of Francesca Spina (2011) Universit degli Studi di Cagliari FACOLT DI MEDICINA E CHIRURGIA http://pacs.unica.it/biblio/ lesson1.htm 5 Sympathetic Resonance Technology:Scientific Foundation and Summary of Biologic and Clinical Studies, Beverly Rubik, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Dec 2002, Vol. 8, No. 6: 823-856 6 Disentangling Musical Embodiment, Eric Clarke (University of Oxford), Music and the Body 2012 Conference, March; Hong Kong. 7 Bad Vibrations: Contemporary Disclosures on Music as a Threat to Health. James Kennaway (Durham University), Music and the Body 2012 Conference, March; Hong Kong. 8 Force, Afterimages, and the Ears: Changing Notions of Music Listening in Late 19th-century Thoughts. Youn Kim (University of Hong Kong), Music and the Body 2012 Conference, March; Hong Kong.
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