School of Design | Graduate Interior Design
Students: Tianli Gu, Yanya Mei
Faculty: Caleb Crawford
This GIF is a computational fluid dynamics simulation visualization of our design strategy A. With the addition of reflective surfaces on the walls, the three main sound sources diffuse less throughout the rest of the space after multiple reflections.
The acoustical environment of the Pratt Steuben gallery is not an ideal experience. Our research into the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum led to two different design strategies. Both Strategies were tested through Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation Visualization. By using sustainable materials and a simplified structure, we sought to optimize the acoustics of the gallery space at the lowest possible cost.
This GIF image is a computational fluid dynamics simulation visualization of our design strategy B. With the addition of reflective surfaces on the walls, one sound source diffuses less throughout the rest of the space after multiple reflections.
This GIF image is a computational fluid dynamics simulation visualization of the original Pratt Steuben Gallery. As we can see, noise diffuses more in this case.
The space is spatially divided into five parts. Due to the exposed structure, footsteps on the upper floor can be clearly heard throughout the space as structurally borne noises. At the same time, the ventilation facilities also emit a certain amount of noise, which affects the visiting experience.
We found that the acute angle works more ideally as a trap, limiting the reflected sound from bouncing away from the sound source. Hence, we came up with our first design intervention with a concentration on using acute angled corners to control the sound leakage to adjacent spaces.
