ABSTRACT

Worship Sound Spaces unites specialists from architecture, acoustic engineering and the social sciences to encourage closer analysis of the sound environments within places of worship. Gathering a wide range of case studies set in Europe, Asia, North America, the Middle East and Africa, the book presents investigations into Muslim, Christian and Hindu spaces. These diverse cultural contexts demonstrate the composite nature of designing and experiencing places of worship. Beginning with a historical overview of the three primary indicators in acoustic design of religious buildings, reverberation, intelligibility and clarity, the second part of this edited collection offers a series of field studies devoted to perception, before moving onto recent examples of restoration of the sound ambiances of former religious buildings. Written for academics and students interested in architecture, cultural heritage, acoustics, sensory studies and sound.

The multimedia documents of this volume may be consulted at the address: https://frama.link/WSS

chapter |9 pages

Introduction

Religious listenings: a multidisciplinary approach

part I|47 pages

Sonic architecture

chapter 1|18 pages

Characterizing the acoustics of places of worship

Should we believe in acoustic indicators?

chapter 2|13 pages

Towards a history of architectural acoustics using archaeological evidence

Recent research contributions to understanding the use of acoustic pots in the quest for sound quality in 11th- to 17th-century churches in France

part II|99 pages

Experiencing the sacred through sound

chapter 4|16 pages

The worldmaking ways of church bells

Three stories about the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris

chapter 5|27 pages

What should the reverberation inside a masjid be?

A study exploring the demands of Imams

chapter 6|18 pages

“Soundwalks in Shiva temple”

A situated approach to perceived ambiance

chapter 7|18 pages

Bells, auspiciousness and the god of music

Reflections on sound in ritual space in Nepalese Hindu traditions

chapter 8|18 pages

Resonant voices and spatial politics

An acoustemology of citizenship in a Muslim neighbourhood of the Kenyan coast 1

part III|61 pages

Restoring the sound ambiances of the past

chapter 9|17 pages

The church beyond worship

Experiencing monumental soundspaces in the Roman Catholic churches of Montréal (Québec, Canada)

chapter |8 pages

Afterword

A world of attunements