MEMBRANE

CHALLENGE
The majority of buildings are acoustically isolated from the outside. Yet, together with the undesired noise, the inner building is cut off from the soundscape of the local community, the animal life and the weather. In contrast to the numerous defensive strategies for noise abatement, there has only been a rare development of creative solutions that are easy to integrate and scalable across different architectural contexts.

APPROACH
Membrane was developed as a compact unit: Like a biomembrane, the device acts as a selectively permeable barrier for sound. The streetscape is captured by an outdoor microphone and filtered so that only selected frequencies of the signal pass. Through an exciter speaker, the processed sound is played back into the inner window. A combination of two circular controllers allow the user to adjust the volume of the outside as well as the degree of the transformation.

RESULT
The noise is not experienced as waste, but as a resource for an ever-changing, pleasant and calming acoustic atmosphere. Shifting across 12 different tempers throughout a day’s cycle, the ‘Membrane’ allows a meaningful relationship to the outside, harmonizing the needs of the persons inside with the liveliness of their environment.