(Reported by Lei Bingyi and Feng Huichao; photo by Gan Qingyi) From 19:00 to 21:00 pm on the evening of Oct. 23, 2023, the 40th School Forum, with the theme of “Creating Architectural Atmosphere”, was held online and offline simultaneously. The lecture is hosted by Feng Huichao, a distinguished associate professor in the field of environmental design at the School of Arts and Communication, and the speaker was Xiao Jieling, a reader in Architecture and Sensory Environments from the School of Architecture and Design, Birmingham City University.
Before the lecture, Professor Feng Huichao from the School of Arts and Communication briefly introduced Professor Xiao Jieling, the speaker. Her main research field is sensory urban and environmental design, especially in the fields of urban olfactory landscapes and sound landscapes she has made pioneering contributions. She is currently the head of research and doctoral programs at the School of Architecture and Design, Birmingham City University, and serves as a column editor of the Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs.
Firstly, Prof. Xiao Jieling raised the question of “what is architectural atmosphere”, and then answered that the architectural atmosphere was the emotions and feelings brought to people through building materials, spatial environment, etc. She hoped to bring students a new understanding and interpretation by analyzing how space design creates the architectural atmosphere. The lecture was divided into two parts. Through theory and case analysis, the first part was about creating architectural atmosphere with sounds and the second part was creating architectural atmosphere with smells.
In the first part, Prof. Xiao Jieling explained the impact of sound pressure level and sound spectrum on human comfort from the theoretical level, mentioned the concept of echo and reverberation, and explained the concept of sound landscape by introducing the difference of sound reflection and absorption by different materials by listing the reflection and absorption of sound in the concert hall. Then, through interactive video watching, she explained that different materials and spatial combinations could make the sound different and bring different feelings to people, and illustrated the application of sound in the field of art and design with a series of cases such as the Music Pavilion (2022), 80Hz Pavilion (2018), and the “Rumors from the Sea” (2019), providing a unique audio-visual experience to the people with a unique perspective and interpreting the functionality, inspiration and the characteristics of sound as an emotional bond.
In the second part, Prof. Xiao Jieling talked about the characteristic of smell to evoke memories about people, events and scenes, and the role, source, duration and consumer market of smell and the morality of smell design should be taken into consideration when designing with smell elements. She also shared the design framework of smellscape proposed in her research. She also talked about the storytelling nature of smell, using the case of the Dennis sever Museum in London to illustrate the narrative nature of smell; she gave examples of the symbolic elements of smell, the use of smell, and the smell of materials to illustrate the impact of smell on people in design.
Finally, Prof. Xiao Jieling recommended design books related to sound and smell for the students. Through Prof. Xiao Jieling’s speech, students had a new understanding of how sound and smell create architectural atmosphere. The lecture was brilliant and concluded successfully with warm applause. The students gained a lot and benefited greatly.
