The title of this master´s thesis is the elaboration of a design for a newly builded building of civil importance - a cultural center. Object is 3 storey, situated on the flat plot in the wider center of Trencin. The center includes a concert hall and facilities for training and recording musical productions. The concert hall forms the left part of the building and consists of a stage, adjacent auditoriums with 352 seats, communication spaces and backgrounds for needs of performance. On the right side there are facilities for testing and recording of music with its own facilities, an entrance hall with a café and a seating area. The construction system consists of a monolithic vertical and horizontal RC structure, complemented in a concert hall with a beam ceiling. The roof is flat in 2 levels, the facade and the envelope of the building is a combination of glass facade and the ETICS insulation system, the highest part of the building is created by cetris tiles. Drawing part is drawn in AutoCAD, other programs used (eg to calculate physical properties of structures etc.) are DEKsoft, WDLS.

This master thesis examines the effects on the acoustical properties of a concert hall caused by an artificial reverberation system (ARS) and the possibility of simulating these properties. By examining the case of the Stockholm Concert Hall, which recently installed such a system, a greater understanding of the ARS will be gained and additional improvements of simulating such systems will be explored. This study comprises two parts: (1) objective data obtained through acoustical measurements are evaluated both internally and to other halls and (2) by computer simulation of the concert hall and its electronic reverberation system evaluate the acoustics of the hall. The study shows that the effect of the ARS on the acoustical properties of Stockholm Concert Hall is not excessive but noticeable. An 0.3 second increase in reverberation time is a desirable outcome but comes at the cost of clarity, which sees a reduction of 0.7 decibels. Moreover, it is possible to simulate a concert hall, having an ARS installed, with fairly realistic results. However, in order to compile the simulated impulse response, a script had to be created -combining the transfer functions related to each component of the reverberation chain from source to receiver, including all the microphones and loudspeakers of the ARS. / Det här examensarbetet undersöker påverkan på de akustiska egenskaperna hos en konsertlokal orsakad av ett artificiellt efterklangssystem. Likaså undersöks möjligheterna för att simulera dessa akustiska egenskaper. Genom att undersöka Stockholms konserthus, som nyligen installerade ett efterklangssystem, kommer en bättre förståelse för artificiella efterklangssystem skapas och ytterligare förbättringar för simulering kommer att möjliggöras. Den här studien genomförs i två delar: (1) objektiv data, inhämtad från akustiska mätningar, utvärderas både internt och mot andra konsertlokaler samt (2) genom datorsimulering av konsertlokalen och det elektroniska efterklangssystemet utvärderas de akustiska egenskaperna. Studien visar att inverkan på de akustiska egenskaperna hos Stockholms konserthus orsakade av det artificiella efterklangssystemet inte är överdrivna men noterbara. En önskad ökning av efterklangstiden med 0.3 sekunder uppnås men detta på bekostnad av att ljudets klarhet minskar med 0.7 decibel. Vidare är det möjligt att simulera ljudutbredningen i en konsertlokal som har ett efterklangssystem installerat med ett tämligen realistiskt resultat. För att uppnå detta simuleringsresultat skapas ett skript vilket väger samman alla överföringsfunktioner mellan ljudkällan och mottagaren, inklusive de mellan efterklangssystemets mikrofoner och högtalare.

Operabyggnaden placeras längst ut på piren och tar hela dess udde i anspråk. Operan riktar sig mot staden. Byggnadens storlek och koncept kräver viss rymd och ljus runt sig varför valet av plats blev naturligt.  Den stora operavolymen skärs itu i flera delar och de olika volymerna binds sedan samman av en stålkonstruktion som på vissa ställen fungerar som ett orangeri medan den på andra ställen är en öppen pergolastruktur. Växtligheten används som ett material och ger intressanta rum, skuggspel och klimat. Orangeriet/pergolan löper igenom och runt byggnaden och såväl personal som besökare rör sig på gångar genom orangeriet/pergolan och upplever olika typer av rum, på olika nivåer.  En önskan med uppdelningen i flera volymer är dels för att få in ljus på ett vackert sätt i en annars djup och mörk byggnad, dels för att försöka bryta ner skalan, samt även för att kunna ge personalen bra arbetsmöjligheter. Slutligen finns även en önskan om en mer transparent verksamhet.

The beginning of the 20th century was an epoch when new industries were established, migration to the cities were increasing, the service sector was growing, and with an increased middle class. Many of the new developments were endeavors, which we today would call projects. The purpose of this thesis is to extend our knowledge about projects during the 1920s, particularly how they were managed and how different persons took on roles and responsibilities to accomplish something they believed in. One such project was Stockholm Concert Hall (1923–1926). The project was managed by the architect Ivar Tengbom, who was the project manager. There have not been any previous studies of the concert hall as a project. Previous research of projects in the past are few and then mostly from the 1940s and 50s. The thesis covers the management of the project and the different roles and associated responsibilities. The main theories are Bourdieu’s Theory of Fields and current project management theories. One of the findings is that just four men with economic, social, and cultural capital dominated the total project process. The project is considered a success; the concert hall is still appreciated.

This project proposes a new building for a concert venue on Södermalm in Stockholm. An area especially affected by the current trend that venues for experiencing contemporary music live are being shut down and driven away from the inner city, due to everything from complaining neighbours to making room for more profitable businesses. The idea for the project sprung out of the sudden closing of the venue Debaser Medis, whose facilities was removed when the building it was situated in was to undergo major renovations. The purpose with Varvet was to create a new venue in a freestanding building, independent from other businesses, and giving contemporary music a more articulated place in the city. The project also includes the re-purposing of an adjacent existing building to facilitate a cafe and bar as well as functions supporting the daily business of the venue such as offices, practice rooms and a small workshop.

The building is divided into two boxes. The lower box copies parcel and recedes from the street line leads to puppet theater. This causes that the space for the main entrance of the philharmonie is clearer and it respects the original exhibition pavilon. The upper box – mass of the concert hall - trench on the lower. The surface is a game of walls and glasses area. Open the space into the parks around. It appears like opera-glass and stage at the same time.

Music listening has experienced one of its major paradigm shifts in this latest generation, taking the step from analogue media into the digital sphere. Today a human can reduce stress levels by limiting noise and disturbances to shut away unwanted impressions, to find peace and tranquility or strength and courage. We as people find various ways of coping with the enormous mass of interactions we come by in modern society, as life in the 21’st century city is a far cry from our humble origins in caves and smaller villages. Through these mazes of the urban jungle we move like waves, opting most often for the path of least resistance, alike that of a dance or the wings of a bird in flight. This motion has caught the fascination of many artists whom have sought to illustrate their dimensional character, the fleeting beauty caught in that of a moment. A beautiful noise of the ocean swell that offer an escape from intrusive thoughts or the hum of a river, the circle of life in a stream of audiovisual harmony. Looking to examples of succesful musical education centres and how multi-purpose venues can blur boundaries so that more inhabitants can enjoy the wonders of live music . What lies ahead for shared musical experiences within public spaces now that we are rather more safe and sound than earlier in history? How will the digital generation change music at a fundemental level?           The thesis like the appended preparatory report tries to grip and understand through a transdisciplinary research method in what ways acoustical spaces in general and concert halls in particular can be designed in such a way as to enhance the experience of sound and nature. The human mind is an exceedingly complex machine that we still do not fully grasp but research finds more links between these cultural and creative parts of the brain, helping us as architects and urban planners make more grounded design decisions.

This thesis creates a complementarity relationship with the use of timber and concrete as primary structural and accent materials. Key elements of this thesis include (1) The development of a wood latticing system (2) Stairs that posses a strong sculptural language (3) The Lantern, a free standing lobby/box office, clad in wood and glass (4) Circulation towers that accommodate balcony seating. Studies of these elements went through many iterations resulting in over one hundred drawings. Progression of these drawings are directed to the interpretation of building form and the interaction with the site. These concepts are then implemented in the design of a multifaceted music venue located on a hillside in the New River Valley. Minutes from the college town of Blacksburg, Virginia this event complex caters to an array of musical functions. Spaces include The Lantern, which is a multipurpose lobby/lounge, the main auditorium, and an outdoor amphitheater. / Master of Architecture

This academic report is the written analysis of my experience as a production intern at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. My internship specifically involved production and this report discusses production management across the performing arts disciplines, as experienced during my 480 hour internship experience. I describe the organizational history of the Kennedy Center and the internship process. I create a SWOT analysis pertaining to factors affecting the Production Department, discuss production management best practices, and make recommendations for the Center’s improvement.

A historical review is performed to study the impact of acoustical knowledge on concert hall developments. It shows that although acoustics developed from myth to real science, there is still a gap between its fast growing knowledge and relatively slow applications to improve designs. Architectural acoustics research and education shall help populating the tacit knowledge and experience of acousticians to reduce the gap between design and knowledge. The established paradigm in this field is to identify the performance goals of concert halls, recognize the available design information in different stages, and establish models to link them together. Placed in this general picture, this thesis focuses on providing design support for preliminary stage. It develops a model to link accessible design features with the most important acoustics performance index, reverberation time. A literature review on exiting reverberation time prediction methods shows that they are based on either too demanding or over-simplified for this stage. This study intends to develop a model that makes maximum use of available information and improves prediction accuracy in comparison with existing simplified methods. Through literature survey and data analysis, three factors (geometrical shape, non-uniform material distribution and scattering effect) are recognized as significant for reverberation time prediction. This thesis developed a simplified model taking these factors into consideration and calibrated this model with empirical data through Bayesian statistical method.