Lanterns Over Sound

ARCH 3102 Core Studio
Taught by Tom Carruthers
Spring 2024

Binghamton is an urban environment defined by its distinctive sounds, climate, and actors. Through collage, I conceptualized the integration of housing with programs addressing the mind, body, and soul. The city faces constant noise pollution, which negatively affects residents’ health, but it also has a vibrant music scene supported by social media, providing local musicians a platform to grow. Binghamton’s Porchfest, a community music event where residents perform on neighborhood porches, inspired the inclusion of accessible “porches” throughout the final design. These, along with performance spaces and audio archives, allow users to document and engage with the urban context.

This project explores how sound influences housing and movement in the city. Drawing from the pixelation technique used in my collage research, the housing and additional programs are fragmented to create a ground-floor public space that showcases and amplifies both contemporary and historical voices of the city. The steps generated by the stages and porches also double as a parkour field, a body program enabled by its urban environment. The design further enhances natural light and privacy in the residential units while mitigating noise pollution.

The housing levels respond to the performance stages and porches by filtering light to the lower levels and refracting sound. As residents move upward, they experience a transition through three vertical gradients: increasing natural light and privacy while reducing sound. This is achieved by the sectional progression of the stages on the ground floor, louder living programs on the first housing level, quiet resting spaces on the second housing level, and lastly the private rooftop terraces. The project title references the material expression of the illuminated translucent glazing facade of the housing units which float above the sounds of the ground floor.