The experience of space is often thought of as a visual phenomenon, but our understanding of where we are is deeply tied to sound. In a thought-provoking guest lecture, Drs Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter explored the concept of aural architecture, discussing how sound shapes our perception of space and influences human interaction. Their insights challenge conventional thinking about hearing and space, bridging disciplines from acoustics and cognitive science to architecture, social anthropology, and Sound Design.
About the Speakers
Dr Barry Blesser is a pioneering researcher in audio technology and spatial acoustics, best known for his contributions to digital reverberation and sound processing. As one of the key figures in early digital audio, he played a central role in the development of the first commercial digital reverb unit in the 1970s. His expertise spans psychoacoustics, signal processing, and the experiential aspects of sound perception. His book Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? (co-authored with Dr Linda-Ruth Salter) explores the relationship between sound and space, shaping discussions on aural architecture.
Dr Linda-Ruth Salter is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work explores the intersection of space, culture, and human perception. With a background in philosophy, social science, and design, she has contributed to research on how architecture and auditory experiences influence human cognition. Her collaboration with Dr Blesser in Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? examines how sound and built environments shape social interactions and emotional responses.
The Concept of Aural Architecture
Aural architecture refers to the way sound interacts with a space and how we, as listeners, interpret and experience that interaction. Drs Blesser and Salter highlighted a crucial distinction: hearing space is not the same as hearing sound. While we might assume that knowing where we are is intuitive, the lecture invited us to consider a deeper question: how do we truly know where we are?
Using historical and experimental examples, the speakers demonstrated that sensory input—especially sound—plays a vital role in spatial awareness. One striking example involved sensory deprivation experiments from the 1950s, where participants placed in silent, isolated environments began to hallucinate within minutes. This underscores how critical sound is for maintaining a coherent sense of place.
For Sound Designers, this concept is fundamental when creating immersive experiences in film, games, and virtual reality (VR). In horror sound design, for instance, silence can be just as powerful as sound. By gradually removing background noise and narrowing the listener’s sense of space, Sound Designers can create an unsettling effect that plays with the brain’s need for spatial awareness.
The Role of Sound in Spatial Perception
Different senses contribute in unique ways to our understanding of space, but hearing is particularly powerful. Unlike vision, which depends on illumination and line of sight, sound travels around obstacles, fills enclosed areas, and provides constant feedback about an environment. This ability to hear space allows us to determine room size, surface materials, and even the presence of unseen objects.
Drs Blesser and Salter illustrated this with a compelling thought experiment: if you were placed in a completely dark room but could still hear, you would likely be able to infer the shape and size of the space just by listening to how sound behaves. This principle is at the core of aural architecture, influencing everything from concert hall design to everyday experiences in urban and domestic settings.
In Sound Design, this understanding is crucial when designing game audio environments. Many modern game engines use real-time spatialisation techniques such as occlusion filtering, where sounds are dynamically muffled or altered when obstructed by walls or objects. This not only makes the soundscape more realistic but also enhances gameplay by providing the player with important auditory cues.
Another example is reverberation in post-production for film and television. When mixing dialogue recorded on a sound stage, Sound Designers often add convolution reverb to match the acoustics of the scene’s visual setting. Without this adjustment, the dialogue may feel disconnected from the environment, breaking immersion.
The Impact of Culture and Cognition
The lecture also explored cultural and cognitive aspects of auditory perception. Different cultures interpret sound in diverse ways, and our brains continuously rewire themselves based on how we use our auditory system. For example, musicians who have trained their ears for years can detect subtle variations in acoustics that others might not even notice. Similarly, some blind individuals develop an advanced ability to hear space through echolocation, using sound reflections to navigate their surroundings.
The speakers pointed out that aural architecture is as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a scientific one. In some societies, specific sounds become deeply symbolic. The resonance of a cathedral, for instance, has historically been associated with religious experience, while the chime of a village bell once defined local identity in 19th-century France.
For Sound Designers working in interactive media or theatre, understanding cultural soundscapes can enhance authenticity and immersion. When designing audio for a historical drama, for instance, awareness of period-accurate materials, such as wooden floors, stone walls, or open landscapes, allows designers to recreate accurate acoustic reflections, enhancing immersion.
The Changing Nature of Soundscapes
With advancements in technology, our relationship with sound and space is evolving. Modern electronic devices create virtual auditory environments that can transport our minds elsewhere, detaching us from our physical surroundings. The ubiquity of headphones, for example, allows individuals to curate personal soundscapes, but it also leads to functional deafness—a state where people can no longer hear the sounds that define their immediate environment.
For Sound Designers, this has significant implications in VR, AR, and immersive media. One example is the use of dynamic object-based audio, such as Dolby Atmos or Ambisonics, which allows sounds to be placed in 3D space and adapt to listener movement. This ensures that spatial relationships between sound sources remain consistent, even as the user moves through a virtual or augmented environment.
Another example is binaural audio mixing, often used in ASMR, virtual museum guides, and 3D audio storytelling. By recording with a dummy head microphone, Sound Designers can capture the way sound naturally interacts with human ears, providing a hyper-realistic listening experience that can transport users into another environment.
The Responsibility of Aural Architects
Drs Blesser and Salter concluded with a call for greater awareness in design, urging architects, engineers, and urban planners to consider aural architecture in their work. They introduced the concept of aural empathy—the ability to design with an awareness of how sound affects human experience.
A key takeaway from the lecture was that sound is not just a by-product of space; it is an integral part of how we experience it. Thoughtfully designed spaces take into account how soundscapes influence mood, communication, and social interaction.
For Sound Designers, this means thinking beyond just what a sound effect should be and instead considering how it should be experienced within a space. Sonic accessibility is another important aspect—for instance, ensuring that spatialised audio cues in video games or public environments assist users with different hearing abilities.
Final Thoughts
This lecture provided a fascinating lens through which to examine space, demonstrating that aural architecture is not merely a technical concern but a fundamental aspect of human perception. By incorporating auditory awareness into design, we can create richer, more engaging environments that truly reflect how people experience the world.
For those working in Sound Design, these ideas reinforce the importance of treating space as an active element in an auditory experience. Whether designing immersive film soundtracks, crafting realistic game environments, or developing innovative AR applications, an understanding of aural architecture can elevate the quality of sound experiences.
The next time you step into a space, take a moment to listen to it. What can the sound tell you about where you are? The answer may be more complex than you think.