The first issue that Diane brought up is that consistent sounds help her in her wayfinding. This made me realise that as a designer, there are sounds that I can control and some I can’t. Weather conditions, such as wind and rain, create problems for her. Construction along the street, music coming from shops and buskers, music and honking from automobiles are all identified as distracting sounds. Audible signals at street intersections are very positive sounds. Diane also sees people talking and walking towards her as positive sounds, and the jingle of Lucy’s metal collar helps Diane, through echo location and how the dog reacts differently in various situations, to determine what is going on around her. * Once we arrived at Whyte Avenue, Diane mentioned that traffic sound is what she most pays attention to. For her, typical downtown traffic is predictable and she can easily identify the directional flow of the automobiles. Motorcycles and large truck sounds interrupt this consistent traffic flow. She explained that most often she will simply stop moving until the disrupting sounds disappear. When a bus stopped along the street, music was playing, and a crowd of people were talking; we found ourselves in a space between a building and the bus. Sounds were coming from every direction. We stood and waited until the bus left. Walking east towards the more active part of the street, I was surprised when Diane indicated we were beside a building. We had just moved from an open parking lot space to a building edge. People can use echolocation to navigate using clicks and echoes, as do bats and dolphins, to obtain information about nearby objects. Diane often wears shoes that make sounds from impact with the ground surface to help with echolocation. Technology also helps in wayfinding. Diane often uses a talking GPS to find a shop along a street, especially when it is a first time visit. This trip to Whyte Avenue was especially difficult because it
was her first time, she had to listen both to me talking and to the surrounding sounds, and she still had to instruct her dog how to guide. Sometimes when sound gets to be too much, Diane will take the arm of the person she is with for guidance. A second visit is always easier –even our walk back to the car along the same side of the street was noticeably more relaxed. At the Terwillegar Recreation Centre (the first time for Diane) we again spoke of controlled and uncontrolled sound. For positive acoustic wayfinding, the position of sounds must be consistent but not too loud. Automatic sliding doors that make a swish sound are positive, while mezzanine space creates negative cavernous echoing sounds. Terwillegar has both of these. As I was the Barrier-Free design consultant for this recreation centre, I now realise that I should have paid more attention to the issue of acoustic wayfinding. The most important lesson from my site visits with Diane was that as an architect, I can manipulate the surfaces below, beside and above us to control sound. It was interesting how Diane identified the entrance to the building from outside when we moved underneath the exterior canopy, and the same entrance from inside as the ceiling height changed. In both cases, sound became noticeably different. In architecture school, we were taught to create spatial interest by manipulating the ground plane, which often means stairs. I always resisted this because of my experiences growing up with a father in a wheelchair. My strategy has always been to create spatial interest by manipulating the ceiling surface. Before this visit with Diane, I just never thought of it as a sound design issue. j
below left: inside the Terwillegar Recreation Centre. The change in ceiling height helps identify that she is approaching an exit. right: An entrance to the centre. The red canopy changes the nature of the sound.
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ron wickman
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