Computational morphogenesis and construction of an acoustic shell for outdoor chamber music

Abstract

This paper presents a deterministic method to design acoustic chambers for outdoor performances, and emphasises the benefits of a computational morphogenetic approach to the problem. It represents the newest outcome of a research program, conducted by ReS-Team and sponsored by VPM, on the development of the acoustic chamber ReS. The research work is based on the interaction between two different topics – Computational Morphogenesis and Acoustics - which proceed on independent but parallel paths. As a computational tool for any Python®-based environment, it aims to fill the gap between the architectural and acoustic design. By means of geometrical acoustics theory, descriptive geometry and genetic algorithms, the acoustic performance of a given topology is optimised according to defined acoustical parameters. The awareness of possible variations in the acoustic configuration is also increased. Applications are meant to predict the acoustic behaviour within any semi-reverberant field of an acoustic environment.