Kirishima International Concert Hall

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Kirishima International Concert Hall

• Case study by
• Gavin Scarbrough

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Kirishima International Concert Hall

• Location
• Makizono, Japan
• Architect
• Fumihiko Maki
• Building type Musical Hall
• Size 770-seats
• Completion 1994

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Kirishima International Concert Hall

• Its foyer was designed to maximize the views into
  the Kirishima mountain range.
• It creates a sense of expectation for the
  audience in the entry sequence.

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Kirishima International Concert Hall
Began as a shoebox form that transformed into a
leaf-shaped plan.
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Loudness

• Good Sightlines
• The audience is raised.
• There is a rear balcony and a thin strip of seats
  along the sides of the hall.

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Loudness

• Sound reflective surfaces are close to the
  source.
• The ceiling drops and is shaped in the front and
  the rear to reflect the sound into the audience.

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Loudness

• Contour lines of equal relative-listening level
  (500Hz.)1
• The loudest seats are in the front and ½ way back
  to ¾ of the way by the wall.

1 From http//www.ymec.com/doc/study.paper/phd/pa
per3.htm
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Clarity

• Massive materials overhead provide early
  reflections.

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Reverberance

• Large upper room volume.
• The ceiling is a hard surface.
• There are recesses in the surfaces to scatter the
  sound.
• RT 1.75s occupied

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Reverberance

• The reverberation time (RT) obtained by the decay
  rate between -5dB and -20dB is almost
  constant throughout the hall, and has a range of
  0.05s (unoccupied.)1

1 From http//www.ymec.com/doc/study.paper/phd/pa
per3.htm
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Envelopment

• Tall side wall made of wood.
• Creates strong lateral reflections.
• Side walls are also angled to reflect the sound
  towards the audience.

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Spaciousness

• Side walls are wood panels to diffuse the sound.
• Side balcony behaves as a lateral reverberation
  chamber.

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Spaciousness

• The IACC values for frequencies above 500Hz are
  less than 0.5 throughout the hall, and the
  interaural time delay (time between ears) is
  constant at 0 for almost all seats.1

1 From http//www.ymec.com/doc/study.paper/phd/pa
per3.htm
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Intimacy

• Orchestra is in the same volume as the audience.
• Close proximity to the wall.
• The maximum ITD is 29ms.

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Intimacy

• These are the contour lines of initial time delay
  gap (ITD) between the direct sound and first
  reflection excluding the floor reflection (ms).1
• This tells that the seats closest to a surface
  are the most intimate as opposed to the seats in
  the front middle where the ITD is the most.
• The most intimate seats are in the back corners.
  Although it does not seem obvious this makes
  perfect because of its proximity to a surface.

1 From http//www.ymec.com/doc/study.paper/phd/pa
per3.htm
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Warmth Brilliance

• Heavy massive materials.
• Multiple scales of articulation.

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Ensemble

• Articulated side walls. They blend the sounds as
  it moves into the audience.
• Surfaces close to the musicians. They allow the
  musicians to hear each other on stage.

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Localization of Sound

• Clear sightlines.
• Heavy overhead surfaces for a strong reflective
  sound.
• These features allow for a type of clarity that
  is important to hear each of the instruments
  individually.

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Kirishima International Concert Hall