040 REPORT
Millennium Park, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago. Image © Patrick Pyszka
with time. Lighting and ventilation in the concert hall advanced with the rest of the building construction industry. As energy costs increased, it became expensive to light, heat, and cool the large volume of the concert hall. To meet the need for an economical and broadly utilised public performance space, the multi-purpose hall was developed. Movable architecture was introduced to achieve both suitable acoustics and technical accommodation of other art forms. Or- chestra shells, pit lifts, seating wagons, variable curtains, and movable ceilings were introduced. The form of the multi-purpose hall was influenced by many conditions that were previously not considered in the single-purpose concert hall. Multi-pur- pose halls demanded sightlines suitable for opera and theatre. Seating rakes were inclined, not without effect on the acoustics.
The devices and designs of the multi-purpose hall are these days welcomed in the concert hall. Increasingly, symphony orchestras are not only producing orchestral concerts but are also presenting organisations, to derive maximum utility out of the halls they own and operate. Symphonies halls are now hosting a wide-range of art- ists, from classical soloists, to jazz and popular music. The intensity of use required of the modern concert hall demands flexibility. Movable curtains and canopies pro- vide adjustable acoustics to accommodate both amplified and unamplified programs. Inclusion of variable elements has influenced the modern concert hall form, even for single-purpose halls. Local economics has also influenced the concert hall, as a civic building. The concert hall is now being used by cities as a device for urban regeneration. Many cities are striving to attract their residents back into the centre of town during their leisure time, as well as using these buildings to entice visitors into their city centres. Expanding cultural options is one of these methods. The justification to construct or renovate a concert hall is now often quantified in potential money spent by patrons before and after the performance, instead of in the intangible enrichment of culture. The construction budgets of concert hall projects allocate considerable resources to developing public space and providing amenities, both to attract visitors and to generate supplemental revenue streams. While the form of the concert hall itself is not directly affected by these economic factors, the presence of the concert hall as a civic building certainly has changed.
Concert hall form has in part been driven by the economics of music-making. The
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need to maximise ticket revenues, contemporary construction technology, opera- tional costs, the spread of cultural building into smaller cities, and the use of cultural enterprise to spur economic development have all influenced the concert hall as a building type.
EXPERIENCE A formalised scientific understanding of room acoustics arose well after the estab- lishment of the identity of the concert hall. Objective acoustic analysis began with the simple relationship between reverberation, volume and material absorption. This empirical understanding of acoustics did not account for the form and geometry of the room. As such, room designs focused on simply achieving adequate reverbera- tion. This approach permitted experimentation with the form of the concert hall. The fan-shaped rooms of the 1950s and 60s achieved the objective goals for volume and reverberation, however they lacked the spatial qualities that listeners had come to expect from classical halls. The focus on reverberation also justified larger and larger seating capacities, although loudness suffered in comparison to the modestly sized classical halls. Later, the acoustic impulse response began to be used to objectively evaluate other characteristics. However, it was some time before spatial information began to be used in statistical analysis. Advances in digital signal processing and understanding of acoustic cognition now allow us to accurately capture, study and understand how binaural (listening with two ears) aspects influence shape / form, material, texture, scale, and position of listeners. Early attempts to integrate this knowledge into room designs concentrated on overcoming room form to provide the objectively mandated reflections and timing. Over-stage canopies, sound reflecting panels, and quadratic residue theory diffusers became the common tools to achieve acoustic objectives for renovations and new construction alike.
Electroacoustic solutions were initially developed in the 1950s to supplement acoustic quality, particularly in poor sounding halls. Notably, such a system was in- stalled in the Royal Festival Hall in the early 1960s. Since then, these systems have advanced to sophisticated digitally controlled systems.
In recent decades, the advanced understanding of acoustics has been used to influ- ence room form, rather than defying or correcting room form. Enhanced analysis
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