Praepubthong Pingmuang is an experimental artist, architect and interior designer with 4 years of professional practice based in Thailand. After moving to Chicago to explore art and architecture, Pingmuang is now a graduate student pursuing a Masters of Architecture with an Emphasis on Interior Architecture at SAIC.
Dear Architects,
Sound Matters.
As an architect, the topic of shape and form is often being discussed. We all work on how it looks and put more focus on physical needs, such as lighting, temperatures, materials and so on.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the topic of Sounds and Noises, we seem to abhor it, and sweep it into the nonessential ornament of our spaces. We block it out from our perception and takes it as a pollution to our building,
… but are they? Are noises and sounds from within and from without all evil?
Of course, there is some condition that we must consider in terms of sonic health awareness. Despite that, the sound does affect people not just in a physical way but also neurologically and psychologically. To cut all the outside world noises and sound, it actually makes us alienated and isolated. Some might say it is good to be isolated but when time goes by, we learn more and more that humans actually need the interaction with the other side of the wall. The more we lock ourselves in, the more depressed and unhealthy our minds are.
Is it possible to use sound as a practical tool in architecture and wellbeing?
Could we possibly tune architecture into an inhabitable instrument,
architecture as an instrument of life?