@ Capacity

Led by Merate Barakat, Architecture, and Alex Braidwood, Graphic Design

This interdisciplinary studio offers undergraduate and graduate students an exciting opportunity to explore innovative mobile audio-centric design interventions. Students will collaborate and develop a holistic understanding of sound and space, integrating sound as the primary design driver. They will be equipped with technical skills and encouraged to engage with societal issues to create audience-centric design interventions.

This interdisciplinary studio invites undergraduate and graduate students to explore:

• De-Cluttering Focus: Challenge students to critically examine societal storage habits and the accumulation of underutilized spaces and objects, conceptualizing design interventions that address these issues through sound, perception, and natural systems thinking.
• Biomimicry and Natural Metabolism: Encourage students to apply biomimicry and natural metabolism concepts in their design processes, exploring how ecosystems reuse resources and waste to create more efficient and adaptive spaces inspired by biomimetic principles.
• Multisensory Design: Students will learn to integrate sound as the primary design driver while incorporating light and visual elements as secondary considerations, exploring how these combined sensory inputs influence user behavior and perception.
• Psychoacoustics in Design: Introduce students to the fundamental concepts of psychoacoustics and their application in design, including how sound influences human perception, cognition, and behavior in different environments. The design challenge will invite students to consider how sound can influence the re-design of unused spaces.
• Site-Specific Revitalization: Encourage students to develop site-specific design interventions that respond to the auditory landscape of a given site, creating installations that heighten awareness of the sonic environment to reinvigorate abandoned or underutilized spaces.

Course objectives:

• Technical Proficiency: Equip students with technical skills in rapid prototyping and microcontroller integration, focusing on designing interactive, sound-based installations.
• Creative Experimentation: Promote creative risk-taking through experimental design processes, enabling students to explore new methodologies and speculative design approaches.
• Interactive Art as a Strategy for Land-Grant Initiatives: Encourage students to engage with the principles of the land-grant mission, focusing on how design can address societal issues such as waste, underutilized space, and sustainable revitalization.
• Audience-Centric Design: Students will consider the specific needs of different demographic groups and use-case scenarios when designing sound interventions, ensuring their designs resonate with the intended audience.