FUNCTION FOLLOWS FORM ARCHITECTURAL FORM AND SOUND PROPAGATION

Louis Sullivan's motto "form follows function" has been severely criticized for its consequences on the rigidity of architectural form. In many cases, though, its validity can be proven by its reciprocity. For example in acoustics we notice that sound propagation can be influenced by the form of space. Sound reflections, diffractions etc., change the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and other sound properties of a given source according to the receiver's position in space. The paper concentrates on this space-sound relation, focusing mainly on open outdoor spaces. Examples of architectural works with an exceptional form (such as Le Corbusier's chapel at Ronchamp, the Kalavryta memorial, or the Athenian citizens' assembly - Pnyx) are examined for their potential to propagate sound due to the acoustical properties created by their form. For this purpose, the use of sound software (Olive Tree Lab 3.0) is applied through the 3D modelling of the above examples and the extraction of 3D mappings of specific sound properties. The main goal of the paper is to investigate (by reversing Sullivan's motto) whether "function follows form".