sound: an acoustic manifesto

Soundan acoustic manifesto

1 tablet 57 pgs

Andrew Houston

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SAM FOX SCHOOL OF DESIGN & VISUAL ARTS

spring 2014Washington University in St. Louisdesign thinking

Andrew Houston

Any copy of this book issued by the publisher as a paperback is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including these words being imposed on a subsequent purchaser.

First published in the USA in 2014 by Houston Design, 1548 Louisville Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63139

www.houstondesign.com

© 2014 Andrew Houston

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the USA by Lulu Press, Inc.

for Mimi

Houston Design


Andrew Houston

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

28

SOUND AS A NATURAL PHENOMENON

VOID / FORM / COUNTERFORM

48

56

10

PRODUCTION / MANAGEMENT OF SOUND

11

36SENSE OF PLACE

18

VISION

SOURCES / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Gorillaz / Plastic B

each World Tour / Perth / 2010

INTRODUCTION / Andrew Houston MANIFESTO

We need a programmatic shift in the role of spatial acoustics. We can no longer design boxes and plaster up panels in hopes of achieving the intended results. It is time to design buildings that begin to truly take on their spatial configuration and exterior context in the realm of sound. Interior spaces can and should relate to each other audibly, creating a more delicate and richer tapestry of the building program, offering a more nuanced understanding of spatial hierarchy and roles. Similarly, the building should respond to the audible conditions of the exterior, whether isolating itself from it, fully embracing it, or employing some combination of the two.

When considered in concert with the acoustic hier-archy established by the interior acoustic program, this relationship between interior spaces and exterior conditions becomes a new frontier for design. Whole avenues of possibilities open up sheerly in diagram-atic terms within the interior gradients of sound requirements. The building itself becomes the vehicle for managing and creating these relationships, offering peace here and disturbance there, always in control but often shepherding in sound that was already there.

The modern world has produced experts at wasting resources. Since each building’s site is part of its essential framing, inseparable from the way in which it will be understood by users, viewers, and listeners alike, the building cannot afford to waste a single of-fering. It’s time to stop wasting sound.

This work attempts to puncture the widespread con-ceit that architecture is primarily visual.

Though vision serves as our primary instrument for understanding the world through sensation, designers of built form have given far too much credit to this single attribute of the human experience. Research has clearly shown that the acoustics of spaces are heavily influential on the quality users’ experience. Poor acoustic design has led children in classrooms to lose over forty percent of the audible quality from their instructor by simply sitting four rows back from the front. Meanwhile, the psychological impacts of the cacophony of sounds while being in a recovering state in a hospital bed can hardly be measured. But it is undeniable that a tranquil, calm space is clinically better for healing than that of a chaotic echo chamber. Just as studies have shown that a view to the exterior coupled with natural light has significant effects on healing and productivity, these same ideas ring true in the realm of acoustics. Spaces designed with acous-tics as part of their inherent blueprint will offer an experience that is much richer in a myriad of ways.

Today’s answer to this sensational conundrum remains little more than plastering a ceiling or wall with some form of sound absorbing surface, generically deemed an “acoustic panel.” This catch all answer to acoustic treatment enables the absent minded designer to proceed without consideration, making the space unimportant only to be “treated” after the fact.

SOUND AS A NATURAL PHENOMENON

Dan

iel P

alac

io /

Wav

es /

LAB

oral

/ G

ijón,

Spa

in /

2010

A sound source generates sound waves, which then create a vibration that is interpreted by a receiver.

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanics of sound. During the production of musical sounds, there is a vibration within the air columns which are a confined column of gas that behave like a spring. Imagine air in a contained cylinder such as a syringe. When the plunger forces more air into a smaller volume, it increases the air pressure, while the sound waves exit out of a small hole.

The two primary methods for visualizing sound are transverse waves and longitudinal waves.

Sound waves travel as transverse waves in solids, but they behave as longitudinal waves in gases, plasma, and liquids.

longitudinal waves transverse waves

visualizing sound

Successive pulses from the first pulsar discovered, CP 1919, are here superimposed vertically. The pulses occer every 1,337 seconds,caused by a rapidly-spinning neutron star.

Joy Division / U

nknown Pleasurest / Factory R

ecords / 1979

compression

rarefaction

understanding the methods of visualizing sound

sound/sound/

nounnoun: sound; noun: musical sound; plural noun: musical sounds

1. the sensation produced in the organs of hearing when the surrounding air is set in vibration in such a way as to affect these; also, that which is or may be heard; the external object of audi-tion, or the property of bodies by which this is produced. Hence also, pressure waves that differ from audible sound only in being of a lower or higher frequency.

Piston in vertical air column.

Joy Division / U

nknown Pleasurest / Factory R

ecords / 1979

l

m

A

Xy

trough

peak, or crest wavelength amplitude

cycle

p

longitudinal waves

transverse waves

sound behavior in the built environment

Within the built environment, the most important acoustic characteristic of the materials is the absorp-tion coefficient, which determines how well the material absorbs sound versus reverberating it back into the space.

The speech transmission index measures the speech transmission quality of a space. It is dependent on a number of factors including the level of speech, background noise, and the reverberation time of the materials, among others.

.1 .3 .4 .7 .8 1bad fair excellent

speech transmission index

symphony

cathedrals

secular chorusoperarecital and chamber music

semi-classical concertspop bands (sound system)

small theatrescinema

lecture / conference roomsintimate drama

classroomsrecording and broadcasting studios

music

speech

speech and music multipurpose auditoria

idealgood good

page 15

Since all spaces are inherently created by architec-tural materials, the materials themselves combine to create a total acoustic situation that has measurable qualities. The absorption coefficient dictates how well the material will absorb sound, irregardless of spatial context.

Certain programs require lower reverberation times, in which the materials absorb more sound and the over-all effect is quieter with less echo. Others welcome a longer reverberation time, which increases the overall acoustic effect of the space for music or performance.

In general, spaces that require a high degree of acoustic clarity for speech need lower reverberation times and use materials with a higher coefficient of absorption, while spaces intended for music and per-formance utilize longer reverberation times and use materials with lower coefficients of absorption.

plate glassslate stonerubberwoolinsulation

high low

brick wood plaster marble ceramic tile.07 .05 .04 .04 .02 .02.08.99

.2 .6.4 .8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6

.6 .2

reverberation time (seconds)

coefficient of absorption

Epidaurus Theatre

sound characteristics

reactions to form

sound waves

reflection

exhibit are characterized by

interference

refraction

diffraction

speed of sound

sound pressure

sound intensity

As sound travels through space, it encounters solids and open spaces. Within buildings, unwanted sound travelling between spaces happens under the generic umbrella term of “noise leaks.” These happen in four primary ways: structural noise through framework, noise through ductwork, noise through direct path, and noise through slab. The most often cited “leak” is the noise through ductwork because sound never travels through a solid object, and therefore never has to convert into transvers waves.

Sound experiences four primary reactions when encountering solid form. These are absorption, trans-mission, reflection, and diffusion. With the correct selection of material and spatial conditions, sound can be highly manipulated and controlled.

Sound waves also exhibit a number of features while travelling through space and encountering solid form, including interference and refraction. The characterizations of sound waves include intensity, speed, and pressure, as well as the type of wave itself, whether longitudinal or transverse. There are ways to influence these characterizations, but this has more to do with the original source, which will vary within each space based on the occupants and current situation. Therefore, the most effective and appropriate treatment of sound involves understand-ing the geometry of the spaces and using the correct materials to achieve the sound conditions that the program requires.

travelling sound

transmission reflection diffusionabsorption

sound travels through the form virtually undisturbed

sound bounces off the form relative to the angle at which it approached

sound is diffused in all directions after hitting the surface

sound is absorbed by the form and “disappears”

most common noise leaks

structural noise through framework

noise through slab

noise through ductwork

noise through direct path

2

1

4

4

1

2

3

3

VOID / FORM / COUNTERFORM

Lady

Blu

nt S

trad

ivar

ius V

iolin

/ 17

21

In architecture, the designer constantly deals with the balance between space and solid. Today, the term “space” encompasses all enclosures inside buildings, and many consider the practice of architecture as the practice of “making space.” The modern conception and linguistic use of the term and idea of ‘space’ as we now know it comes from Sigfried Giedion’s Space, Time and Architecture first published in 1941.

Other architects have posited their own versions of this idea, such as Adolf Loos’ ‘raumplan,’ in which there is a lack of individual spaces and they bleed into each other creating a more sequential experi-ence of a larger space. Loos sacrifices the individual for the more fully envisioned whole.

All conceptions of space as we know it today rely on the solid built form to allow space to exist. And as the spaces inside a volume exist, so does the external space outside the volume, which extends outward to infinity. Generally considered the site, or where the building exists within the city’s built fabric for instance. This external space is equally important to the understanding of the building as the interior spaces.

A violin is a vehicle for understanding this relation-ship, with internal and external space like a building, it is responsible for the production and management of sound inside and outside of its solid form.

within outsideinside

void

form

counterform

positive and negative within built form

The violin produces sound by drawing a bow across its strings, usually made of four gut, Perion, synthetic, or steel strings. As the bow pulls along the strings it creates a vibration, serving as the source of the sound. The sound then reverberates into the interior space of the violin via the f holes, the curved openings along either side of the lower part of the strings. The body of the violin is an hourglass shape because of the acoustical conditions that this creates. In general, the source creates the sound which then enters into the body of the violin and reverberates along the curved interior chambers, of which there are four inside the violin.

The sound then travels outside the violin emanat-ing outward from the interior space through the f holes. Depending on the manner in which the violin is played, the volume can be managed in a very particular way, as the more forceful the player draws on the strings the louder the sound produced. This

is a helpful metaphor for how buildings work. Each space within a building produces sound, and each is also surrounded by an exterior condition where separate sounds are outside the envelope of the building itself.

Sava

ges

/ stil

l fro

m S

ilenc

e Yo

urse

lf / M

atad

or R

ecor

ds /

2013

The voids inside the form can take virtually any shape. Although we generally think of rooms inside of a building as being squares or rectangles, in reality these are simply spaces that can have any dimen-sions necessary to the desired program and acoustic conditions. Introducing only three variables—ori-entation, scale, and number—creates an infinite number of spatial conditions.

These conditions all relate to each other within the context of the building or public space, creating a hierarchy of conditions according to reverberation time, volume, or expected users that can vary as dramatically or subtlely as needed. The spaces can be considered forums for sound.

This infinite variety of spatial and acoustical conditions provides the framework or formula for designing a building or public space, which can be considered in conjunction with or independent from other aspects of the built form, such as materiality and program. As a method of design, we can now employ these strategies to formulate a new type of “program,” an acoustical program, one that does not have to adhere to traditional physical constraints.

The building’s form again relates to the outside, creating a similar relationship to the spaces inside the building, as another component to the overall acoustic experience of the building or city’s built fabric itself.

void

shape

orientation

orientation, scale, and numberorientation and number

scale and number

scale

number

form

and outside as understood through the medium of the form becomes extremely important.

The acoustic design of a space can have a high degree of variability depending on not only the space itself, but the form that creates the space. For instance, even if someone is designing a room inside a building and a public space that are the exact same shape, scale, and orientation, they will almost certainly have different acoustic qualities because of the form that surrounds them. Additionally, most public spaces have no ceiling, which also factors into the acoustic conditions of the design.

Architects and urban designers must begin to see these specific acoustic conditions of their spaces as opportunities that can be directly responded to in their designs. Buildings and plazas can be much more site specific, and the acoustic opportunities can be explored much further than has previously been the case. If they can begin to see the interior and exterior as participant in the holistic vision of the building or buildings themselves, then they can develop a building or a public space with an overall acoustic condition that is much more in line with the desire of the user, no matter what the program. This will create more interesting spaces with a higher flexibility of uses, which is ultimately the goal of all designers of space.

If the form itself is a building, then the isolated voids are rooms. This is the way that voids are generally considered within built form. But within the urban environment, voids exist as public “rooms,” such as in Piazza San Marco in Venice. Here, the voids are simply negative space within the built fabric of the city, and are as viable as any voids within a building, as they behave acoustically in a very similar fashion to interior rooms. They also experience the same ex-ternal noise outside of the built form as rooms do via site noise throughout the rest of the city. Thinking of public spaces in this way enables urban designers to consider the acoustics of their designs as a viable de-sign consideration. The relationship between inside

Rijksm

useum / A

msterdam

Piaz

za S

an M

arco

/ V

enic

e

counterform

Counterform includes all space outside the built form, extending in all directions to infinity. As it oc-curs in three dimensional space, it can be represent-ed both in plan and section. The external acoustics above and below are equally important consider-ations as horizontal. The site may be serenely quiet or relentlessly loud, but understanding its unique conditions is essential to creating a building or a public space that truly embraces its context. This consideration gives buildings their sense of identity, and their unique sense of place.

Rei

ndee

r Pa

vilio

n / H

jerk

inn

TKTS / N

ew York

Rei

ndee

r Pa

vilio

n / H

jerk

inn

PRODUCTION / MANAGEMENT OF SOUND

33 rpm record

The city of St. Louis lacks a coherent music scene. Part of this is simply the geographical location of the city. Although located at the crossroads of interstates 55, 64, and 44, many nationally touring bands skip St. Louis altogether on their route. Often bands from the northeast will travel to the west coast via Detroit, Chi-cago, and Minneapolis, always just north of St. Louis. And when they return back east they travel along the southern part of the country playing in cities such as Austin, New Orleans, Birmingham, and Athens.

In order to get musicians to travel long distances to come to St. Louis, the city has to offer them something special. In addition to a financial guarantee for the show, the stop in St. Louis should offer a respite from being on the road and a place to get a sense of place if only for a few days. Offering the musicians an op-portunity to promote their music via radio, working with other local musicians, and generally experienc-ing and being a part of a growing scene are other incentives that will begin to bring small touring bands.

By looking at the existing music destinations in the city, it is clear what is working and what is not. Though there are many places to see live music and several independent record labels, there are almost none downtown. For these bands to come to St. Louis and experience the true nature of the city, they must grasp the most historical and most urban part of St. Louis, the area most imbedded with the sense of identity that created such an amazing city long ago. A successful music scene brings identity back. .

Smith Westerns, Dye It Blonde tour 2011

Grimes, Mythical Gymnastics tour 2012

Dent May, Warm Blanket tour 2013

01/18 Brooklyn, NY - Glasslands01/19 New York, NY - Pianos01/28 Nashville, TN - The End ^01/29 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light ^01/30 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 ^01/31 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club ^02/01 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn ^02/03 Orlando, FL - Backbooth ^02/04 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder ^02/06 Houston, TX - Fitzgeralds ^02/07 Austin, TX - Emos ^02/08 Dallas, TX - The Loft ^02/10 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room ^02/11 Los Angeles, CA - Echo ^02/12 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar ^02/13 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill ^02/15 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge02/16 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret02/17 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Care02/18 Boise, ID - Neurolux02/19 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court02/21 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge02/22 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar02/23 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room02/24 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club02/25 Madison, WI - The Frequency02/26 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle02/28 Toronto, ON - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern03/01 Montreal, QB - La Sala Rossa03/02 Boston, MA - Great Scott03/04 Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel

^ = with Yuck

09-25 Hudson, NY - Basilica Hudson !^09-26 Boston, MA - Paradise !^09-27 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer !^09-28 Baltimore, MD - The Coward Shoe !^09-29 Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall !^ 10-01 Atlanta, GA - The Basement !^10-02 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree !^10-03 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge !^ 10-05 Dallas, TX - Trees !^10-06 Austin, TX - Beauty Ballroom !^10-08 Phoenix, AZ - The Crescent Ballroom !^ 10-09 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre ^10-11 San Diego, CA - Porters Pub !^10-15 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge !^ 10-17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore ^10-19 Calgary, Alberta - Saits The Gateway !^10-20 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Louis Pub !^10-22 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater !^ 10-26 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom !^10-28 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg !^

! with Myths^ with Elite Gymnastics

09-10 Tallahassee, FL - Downunder Club at FSU *09-12 New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa *09-13 Austin, TX - Red 7 (Inside Stage) *09-14 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves *09-15 Norman, OK - Opolis *09-16 Kansas City, MO - Czar Bar *09-17 Grinnell, IA - Gardner Lounge at Grinnell College*09-18 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *09-19 Madison, WI - Memorial Union Terrace at University of Wisconsin *09-20 Chicago, IL - TBD09-21 Lexington, KY- Boomslang Festival09-26 Cincinnati, OH - Midpoint Music Festival09-27 Hamilton, Ontario - The Baltimore House *09-29 Burlington, VT - Signal Kitchen*09-30 Allston, MA - Great Scott *10-03 Brooklyn, NY - 285 Kent *10-06 Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse at Duke University *

* with Dead Gaze

skipping St. Louis

creating a scene

Broadway Oyster Bar756 S. Broadway

Apop Records2831 Cherokee St.

The Luminary2701 Cherokee St.

Collins Alley Speakeasy808 N. Collins St.

Peabody Opera House1400 Market St.

Fox Theatre527 N. Grand Blvd.

Plush3224 Locust St.

KDHX3524 Washington Ave.

Firebird2706 Olive St.

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis3750 Washington Blvd.

Broadway Oyster

KDHX PeabodyCAM

radio

venue

label

LuminaryFirebird ApopGramo-phone

Collins Alley

Fox Off Broadway

Plush

The Gramophone4243 Manchester Ave.

Off Broadway311 Lemp Ave.

Although several music venues occupy the city of St. Louis, none exist within the Washington Street district of downtown. And while there are several venues within the city, there are almost no record labels or independent radio stations.

Cherokee Avenue houses two important music busi-nesses in the Luminary and Apop Records. These two often work together to spur creative movements and spontaneous events, as well as giving musicians a place to come spend time together and discuss further proj-ects. We need this same communal attitude downtown.

THE LUMINARY

Since 2009, The Luminary has organized a curated art and music series that attempts to create a forum in which both the performer and the audience can take music seriously as art. They pair performers whose music creates a context and conversation within a gallery setting, aiming to transcend genres and play with boundaries. At times, concerts are presented in parallel with exhibitions, installations, interactive elements, workshops and screenings. On the whole, it aims to take chances alongside artists and audiences, attempting to present the best of what is happening in music and performance.

KDHX is independent media for St. Louis and beyond. A rare thing in an increasingly commer-cial world, KDHX is a non-profit arts organization celebrating over 25 years of independent music, art, and culture in St. Louis and around the world. The building on Washington Avenue houses The Folk School, The Stage, the Magnolia Café, KDHX.org, and 88.1 FM radio station. These all work together to form a thriving and well-rounded arts destination committed to building community through media.

Apop Records has been operating as a brick and mortar storefront since 2004. Never submitting to “Janus-faced partisan politics,” Apop Records exalts freedom, free speech, and the unfettered pursuit of knowledge. They promise to uphold the fight against censorship and suppression, making available titles of uncommon thought and oft discomfitting nature, delving deeply and unabashedly where others fear to tread. In addition to providing some of the finest listening and reading materials available, Apop also operates as a record label, and publisher.

analyzing what works

Gri

mes

/ B

rook

lyn

/ 201

2

SENSE OF PLACE

We need a programmatic shift in the role of spatial acoustics. We can no longer design boxes and plaster up panels in hopes of achieving the intended results. It is time to design buildings that begin to truly take on their spatial configuration and exterior context in the realm of sound. Interior spaces can and should relate to each other audibly, creating a more delicate and richer tapestry of the building program, offering a more nuanced understanding of spatial hierarchy and roles. Similarly, the building should respond to the audible conditions of the exterior, whether isolating itself from it, fully embracing it, or employing some combination of the two.

When considered in concert with the acoustic hier-archy established by the interior acoustic program, this relationship between interior spaces and exterior conditions becomes a new frontier for design. Whole avenues of possibilities open up sheerly in diagram-atic terms within the interior gradients of sound requirements. The building itself becomes the vehicle for managing and creating these relationships, offering peace here and disturbance there, always in control but often shepherding in sound that was already there.

The modern world has produced experts at wasting resources. Since each building’s site is part of its essential framing, inseparable from the way in which it will be understood by users, viewers, and listeners alike, the building cannot afford to waste a single of-fering. It’s time to stop wasting sound.

Steinway &

Sons / 1098 / 1977

Washington Ave.

Chestnut St.

N. T

ucke

r B

lvd.

N. 4th St.

Central Business District (CBD)

St. Charles St.

Locust St.

Olive St.

Pine St.

N. 11th St.

N. 10th St.

N. 9th St.

N. 8th St.

N. 7th St.

N. 6th St.

N. B

roadway

The central business is the economic center for the St. Louis region. The district is home to more than 3,500 hotel rooms, seven million square feet of office space and 1,500 residents.

This area provides a unique atmosphere within the city of St. Louis. With two Metrolink stops at 8th / Pine and Washington / 6th,it is as urban as anywhere in St. Louis. For the city to regain its momentum of becoming a better urban environment, the CBD must be a launch pad for new ideas and creativity.

intact urban intersections in CBD

Within the CBD, there remain only four fully intact urban intersections. These have all four corners defined by a building that is built out to the corner without setbacks. This means no parking lots, no parking garages, no buildings set far off the street by a plaza, no driveways, etc. These intact intersections are crucial to St. Louis’ downtown being an effec-tive urban center by providing true density at the pedestrian scale. This density enables the plazas and setbacks occuring elsewhere to have more meaning and significance.

1

1 2 3 4

4

3

2

8th and Olive 8th and Pine Broadway and Olive 10th and Locustbound by Laclede Gas Building, the Arcade Building, the Old Post Office, and the Chemical Building

bound by the Arcade building, the Laclede Gas Building, the Wainwright Building, and AT&T

bound by the St. Louis Place building, Metropoli-tan Square, the Lasalle Building and Marquette

bound by the former Noonan Kocian Art Building, the Farm Savings Bank, Left Hand Books and Burks

There are six townhomes at the northeast corner of 10th and Locust in 1875. Each one is three stories tall facing Locust, with a two story structure on the back parallel to 10th. The Locust facades are three bays wide. 921 is the last survivor of this row of houses, making it quite possibly the oldest building in the Central Business District. It first appears in a perspective drawing in the Compton and Dry pictoral St. Louis plates in 1875. Based on the building stock, architectural historians speculate it is actually antebel-lum, putting its original building date at pre-1861.

In 1890, it is converted to commercial with a cast iron storefront, and gets the most attention of any small downtown building.

923 Locust St. - 1875

Ludwig van B

eethoven / process sheet music from

“Adelaide,” O

p. 46 / 1795

923 Locust St. - 1955

The Noonan-Kocian Art Company originally moves its gallery to 923 Locust St. in 1912. At this point, the gallery is already a legend and the most impor-tant art destination in St. Louis. This is where the St. Louis Art Museum purchases pieces for its collection, including Rembrandt van Rijn’s Landscape with a Cottage in 1913.

In 1914, the Noonan Gallery is the St. Louis agent for the Panama Pacific Exhibition and handles fine art objects to be displayed in San Francisco the fol-lowing year. Childe Hassam exhibits half a dozen paintings here in 1907. It is at Noonan-Kocian on November 23, 1903 that the famed American painter and sculptor Charles M. Russell—a St. Louis native—has his very first solo exhibition.

The Noonan-Kocian Art Company had formed in 1893 at 1002 Olive—currently the site of Jack Patrick’s Bar and Grill—before moving in 1897 to a space at 617 Locust. During those years, the art scene thrives. The 1899 volume St. Louis: Queen of the West describes the “art trade” at that time as of “constantly increasing importance” in the city and singles out one dealer as of “enviable reputation”—the firm of Noonan and Kocian. “Here is shown a large stock of fine paintings, water colors, etchings, engravings, plaster casts, Copley prints, etc…In their galleries are to be found examples of the best modern art.”

By 1911, Arthur Kocian is working with architect John D. Paulus to construct a new space at 923 Locust. Noonan-Kocian spends $10,000 on alterations to the existing three-story structure they would lease at 10th and Locust, moving the gallery there in 1912. This is a substantial investment in a day when $5,000 builds a large brick four-square and $10,000 builds a small Carnegie Library. Previously, Paulus has designed the Castle Ballroom at 2839 Olive in 1908.

In his design, Paulus rebuilds much of previous ver-sion of the building. To this day, despite its multiple alterations and recladdings, the building at 923 Locust maintains the same envelope as the house pictured in the Compton & Dry Pictorial St. Louis plates from 1875. At that time, a three story house—already dwarfed by its newer commercial neighbors—fronts the sidewalk on Locust, with a two-story addition continuing along Tenth Street.

Well into the next decade, though, the gallery continues to rent the second floor of the building at 923 Locust. It undergoes an addition in 1946 of modern storefront facing Locust. A 1955 photograph shows the second floor display window still filled with framed paintings and prints. Fisher’s Opticians then inhabits the first floor of 923 Locust for the next twenty years.

923 Locust St. - 2014

Having fallen to utter disrepare, today’s charge is to restore 923 Locust St. to its former glory. Its rich history disallows the current practice of demolishing these lone survivors of the 20th century to make way for new development. With so much vacancy in and around downtown, there is simply no excuse for anything but the historic preservation of the building.

Working in conjunction with the building next door allows the completion of the vision of enriching the music scene in St. Louis. Using a twofold approach, the complete restoration of 923 and the renovation and adaptive reuse of 921, enables a combination of program that restores identity and gives a sense of place, while offering something unique and new.

VISION

923 and 921 Locust becomes the new epicenter for music activity in St. Louis. Bands crave to play here and shape their tours around their stay at 923. The financial incentive gives them a guarantee, but they know that that is not the only reason to come to St. Louis. Once here, their opportunities are vast.

They play shows and collaborate with other musi-cians, local or otherwise. The radio station provides them airtime, whether promotion, interviews, play-ing their recordings, or streaming a live set in real time to the St. Louis area and online. They have an opportunity to speak to the label and hear what work they’re doing, and get tips on how to get their sound to a point where the label will pick them up. They can then record their record right here on site, in downtown St. Louis.

There becomes a significant buzz about this place. Administrators of the project start getting interviewed by the largest music and media websites. Bands start really pushing to be on the label, as the integrated approach clearly works and offers independence from bigger, less transparent labels.

Meanwhile, the venue puts on shows that change the scene in St. Louis. People show up to shows without even knowing who’s playing, because they know that 923 Locust is the place to be. Because they know that this is a place where anything can happen.

Wilco / recording of Yankee H

otel Foxtrot / Chicago / 2002

contents of Glen Kotche’s drum

bag / 2002

The history of 923 Locust sees a return to its former glory. With so much history embedded into the oldest structure in downtown St. Louis that remains today, it serves as a welcome respite for all who enter. The city’s musical welcome mat houses offices with ad-ministrators that range from label executives to radio personell. Booking, promotion, accounting, storage, shipping and all the inner workings of this musical warehouse meet in the fully restored beauty that is 923. Pedestrians wonder in off the street during work-ing hours to peruse through the catalogue and find out about events and promotions.

The collective oversees all operations of both build-ings, and extends its reach throughout the city, building relationships and collaborating with other venues, labels, studios, and radio stations. This is not merely a hub of activity after hours, it is a dynamic and energetic environment where people thrive in a work environment where freedom and independence is valued above all.

921 Locust gets renovated to achieve whatever demands the night’s event calls for. With a loose architecture, one that is focused on sound and and experience, it works in conjunction with the attractive treament of 923. While the historic exterior remains intact, the interior is a place of experimentation of layout, arrangement, and always the production and management of sound.

two for one

In order to house this network of different programs, the two buildings must contain a minimum floor plan of 21,000 ft². The radio, label, and venue use 2,000, 3,000, and 10,000 ft² respectively. With a potential 30,000 ft² between the two buildings, the spatial needs are easily met and additional space allows for questioning the model of building that takes shortcuts on sound and opens up new avenues of thought.

Some of the additional space goes to temporary resi-dences, and a recording studio. Adding these two elements adds to the complexity and capability of the collective, as now bands come solely to record their record, often from overseas. The collective becomes a melting pot of different influences, bring-ing together musicians and industry leaders that are pushing the envelope of music all over the globe.

The inherent distinction of this new typology ques-tions the role of music in today’s world. If the inter-net has changed the way musicians make a living for the worse, this model takes a step to get them back in where they should be, on the stage and in the re-cording studio. Musicians have been mistreated and mishandled by an industry trying to find its footing in today’s market for too long. The collective helps them get back on their feet and focus on the only thing they should be worried about, the music.

bringing back the music

10,000 ft² 20,000 ft²

SOURCES / ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

LAYOUT

Matthew Robertson Factory Records, The Complete Graphic AlbumLondon: Thames and Hudson, 2006

Rem KoolhaasDelirious New YorkMilan: The Monacelli Press, 1994

A. P. FrenchVibrations and WavesBoston: MIT Press, 1971

Alex Ihnen“Just Five Urban Intersections Left in Downtown St. Louis”27 June 2013www.nextstl.com

The American Magazine of Art, Volume 21American Federation of Arts 1930, p. 229

Greg Johnson“When the Art World Came to St. Louis: The Noon-an-Kocian Art Company at Tenth & Locust”9 May 2013www.nextstl.com

Mercantile Advancement Company St. Louis: Queen of the West 1899

Missouri Department of Natural Resources 16 March 2014 www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/stlouiscity

Peter H. Hassrick“Charles M. Russell”St. Louis Globe Democrat10 February 1924

“RIP 285 Kent: A Documentary”12 April 2014 www.pitchfork.com

Built St. Louiswww.builtstlouis.net

Fat Possum Recordswww.fatpossum.com

KDHXwww.kdhx.org

The Luminarywww.theluminaryarts.com

Pitchfork Mediawww.pitchfork.com

Vanishing STLwww.vanishingstl.blogspot.com

WRITING

INFORMATION

Special thanks:Elena Canovas and Ken Botnick for their help and support.

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sound: an acoustic manifesto

Documents

interior acoustic program

interior spaces

exterior conditions

building program

acoustic hierarchy

exterior context

form of binding

spatial configuration