20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY

Office +82-2-2220-1795 | Fax +82-2-2220-4794

http://acoustics.hanyang.ac.kr

ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

AIA-DAGA 2013, Merano, Italy

Soundscape evaluation in urban religious spaces

through social surveys and soundwalk
20 March 2013

In Hwan HWANG, Joo Young HONG and Jin Yong JEON

Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Contents
Tranquility in urban religious spaces

Social surveys for religious gardens

Evaluation of soundscapes using soundwalk method in religious gardens

Summary

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Tranquility in urban religious spaces

A tranquil space in urban environment (Herzog and Barnes, 1999)
Technological revolution has failed to deliver relaxation to the human in urban life
A quiet, peaceful and attractive space to get away from everyday life

The Cathedral and the Buddhist temple in urban space (Duby, 1981; Lee, 2007)
Tranquil components related to religious spatiality and soundscape qualities
Differences of soundscape perceptions between Cathedral and Buddhist temple

Soundscapes in urban religious places

To explore differences of soundscape and tranquility due to the religious spatiality
To investigate dominant factors to construct tranquility in urban religious spaces

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Spatial and religious characteristics of church gardens

Functions of church gardens (Duby, 1981)
Town square as a center of urban
The heart of urban life in the middle age
Religious spatiality is limited to the inside
Main gate with spire of the Cathedral is
divided into secular and sacred places

The church garden as a square of the world

The huge rising sense of stone gothic Cathedral

Various social functions of the church garden

Buffer space which prepares entry
to the religious place
Church gardens : Social square

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Spatial and religious characteristics of temple gardens

Building layout of the temple (Lee, 2007)
Distinction between secular and sacred places
Circulation system which ascends

to the main building of a temple (DAEWOONGJEON)

Religious spatiality of the Buddhist temple starts
from the first door of a temple (ILJUMUN)

Religious spatiality extend to the temple garden

Limitation of the wooden-framed buildings

: Extension to the external space

Buddhist temple garden acts as
a space for Buddhists spiritual retreat

Water-space

Temple gardens : Religious garden

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Site selection 1

Myeong-dong Cathedral

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Site selection 2

Bongeun Buddhist temple

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Social survey for religious gardens

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Social surveys for religious gardens

Construction of questionnaire
Important functions of church and temple gardens
Religious space
Social events and activity
Personal relaxation
Sound elements of church and temple gardens
Bell sounds of church and temple
Sounds of Mass and prayers and chant
Silence for spiritual retreat
Natural sounds
Spatial elements of church and temple gardens
Scenery of surrounding
Arrangements of Buildings
Traditional architecture representing religion
Garden sculptures
Open space for holding events
Space for gathering, friendship
Space for personal relaxation

Evaluation
5 pt. verbal scale
-2. Not at all
-1. Slightly
0. Moderately
+1. Very
+2. Completely

Participants
Church : 99
Male : 53, Female : 46
Employee : 34, Visitor : 65
Temple : 101
Male : 54, Female : 47
Employee : 21, Visitor : 80

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10

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Spatial functions of religious gardens

Significant differences of Important functions, Sound elements,
Spatial elements between church and temple gardens (*p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01)
Important functions

Rating score

Sound elements

**

**

**

**

**

**

**

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11

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Spatial functions and sound / spatial elements

Correlation between Important functions and Sound / Spatial elements
Correlation between Tranquil place and Sound elements

* p< 0.05

** p < 0.01

Bell

Religious
ceremony

Silence

Bird

Wind

Fountain

Spring,
Stream

Conversation

Gathering

Church gardens

0.33**

0.25*

0.16

0.19

0.23*

0.07

0.04

-0.07

-0.04

Temple gardens

0.47**

0.30**

0.17

0.26**

0.25*

-0.18

0.07

-0.08

-0.09

Correlation between Comfortable place and Spatial elements

* p< 0.05

** p < 0.01

Separation

Enclosure

Circulation

Religious
architectures

Sculptures

Open space

Gathering

Relaxation

Information
board

Church gardens

0.28**

0.27**

0.27**

0.11

0.09

0.16

0.31**

0.46**

0.18

Temple gardens

0.19

0.27**

0.35**

0.35**

0.30**

0.34**

0.29**

0.48**

0.27**

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12

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Factor analysis based on the social surveys

Church gardens
Explained variance (%)
Important functions (50)

Sound elements (77)

Social
Relaxation
Comfortable
Connection
Social Event

Religious
Separation
Prayer
Tranquil
Gathering
Religious event

Natural
Fountain
Spring
Bird
Wind

26

24

29

Spatial elements (69)

Human
Conversation
Gathering

Religious
Ceremony
Bell

Silent
Silence

19

17

12

Religious
Enclosure
Separation
Circulation

Social
Gathering
Open
Relaxation

Cultural
Architectures
Sculpture
Information

26

22

21

Temple gardens
Explained variance (%)
Important functions (53)
Social
Gathering
Social event
Relaxation
Comfortable
Connection

Religious
Prayer
Tranquil
Separation
Religious event

28

25

Sound elements (67)

Natural
Bird
Wind
Spring
Fountain

28

Spatial element (68)

Human
Conversation
Gathering

Religious
Bell
Ceremony
Silence

20

19

Cultural
Architectures
Sculpture
Information

Social
Open
Gathering
Relaxation

Religious
Enclosure
Separation
Circulation

24

23

21

20 MAR 2013

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Evaluation of soundscapes using soundwalk method in religious gardens

13

20 MAR 2013

14

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Perceptual assessment of soundscapes using soundwalk

Construction of questionnaire (Axelsson et al., 2010)
Evaluation: 5 pt. verbal scale (1. Not at all, 2. Slightly, 3. Moderately, 4. Very, 5. Completely)
Environment

Tranquility

Acoustic

Visual

Preference

SD method

SD method

SD method

Landmark
Sound quality
Air quality
Odor
Luminous environment
Maintenance
Safety

Overall preference

Peaceful
Chaotic
Still
Messy
Stressful
Restful
Calm
Restless

Pleasant
Chaotic
Exciting
Eventful
Calm
Annoying
Uneventful
Monotonous

Acoustical preference
Type of sound sources
Traffic noise
Natural sound
Human noise
Mechanical noise
Other noise

Appealing
Uninteresting
Harmonious
Complex
Open
Familiar
Repulsive
Interesting
Closed
Unfamiliar
Simple
Disharmonious

Visual preference

20 MAR 2013

15

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Church gardens : Myeong-dong Cathedral

Soundwalk evaluation
Measurement
Binaural recording
3 minutes

Subjective evaluation
Questionnaire survey

Date
November 2011

Participants
23 subjects (20s ~ 50s)

20 MAR 2013

16

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Church gardens : Myeong-dong Cathedral

Acoustical parameters
Calculation of acoustical parameters (3 min)
Location

LAeq

LAmax

LA90

LA10-LA90

N90

N10-N90

75.8

89.2

65.2

13.4

35.6

20.2

30.3

66.4

83.0

60.0

7.6

19.6

15.1

10.4

58.5

73.4

55.5

4.3

12.3

10.7

3.7

56.2

71.0

50.7

7.2

9.2

7.6

4.0

56.1

67.1

54.5

2.3

11.5

10.5

2.3

Correlation between acoustical parameters and subjective responses

LAeq

LAmax

LA90

LA10-LA90

N90

N10-N90

Overall impression

-0.67**

-0.58**

-0.69**

-0.45**

-0.64**

-0.69**

-0.58**

Tranquility

-0.85**

-0.71**

-0.86**

-0.61**

-0.85**

-0.87**

-0.80**

Acoustic comfort

-0.65**

-0.51**

-0.71**

-0.37**

-0.68**

-0.72**

-0.62**

20 MAR 2013

17

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Church gardens : Myeong-dong Cathedral

Acoustic and visual factors influencing tranquility

Factor analysis
Explained variance (%)
Tranquility

Sound environment

Visual environment

Tranquility

Pleasantness

Eventfulness

Pleasantness

Enclosure

Interestingness

83

50

22

38

21

10

Multiple regression (R2 = 0.90)

Dependent variable : Tranquility

* p< 0.05

Independent
variable

Unstandardized
Coefficient

Standardized
Coefficient

Pleasantness

0.42

0.42

**

6.37

.000

Eventfulness

-0.11

-0.11

-2.72

.008

Pleasantness

0.53

0.53

**
**

7.74

.000

Enclosure

-0.09

0.01

-0.48

.635

Interestingness

-0.06

0.07

2.23

.028

Acoustic factors

Visual factors

**p < 0.01

R square

0.90**

20 MAR 2013

18

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Temple gardens : Bongeun Buddhist temple

Soundwalk evaluation
Measurement
Binaural recording
3 minutes

Subjective evaluation
Questionnaire survey

Date
August 2012

Participants
30 subjects (20s ~ 50s)

20 MAR 2013

19

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Temple gardens : Bongeun Buddhist temple

Acoustical parameters
Calculation of acoustical parameters (3 min)
Location

LAeq

LAmax

LA90

LA10-LA90

N90

N10-N90

73.0

85.5

75.7

8.5

32.0

24.1

17.3

66.1

77.8

69.7

11.8

20.9

13.3

17.1

59.1

77.1

60.3

5.5

12.8

11.0

4.2

52.2

65.0

54.4

6.4

8.6

7.0

3.6

56.7

73.9

59.2

9.5

9.9

7.3

6.4

53.2

66.6

54.7

4.4

9.3

7.9

3.3

Correlation between acoustical parameters and subjective responses

LAeq

LAmax

LA90

LA10-LA90

LCeq-LAeq

N90

N10-N90

Overall impression

-0.77**

-0.58**

-0.80**

-0.30**

0.14

-0.80**

-0.81**

-0.67**

Tranquility

-0.83**

-0.67**

-0.85**

-0.33**

0.16*

-0.84**

-0.84**

-0.71**

Acoustic comfort

-0.78**

-0.59**

-0.78**

-0.39**

0.18*

-0.77**

-0.75**

-0.71**

20 MAR 2013

20

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Temple gardens : Bongeun Buddhist temple

Acoustic and visual factors influencing tranquility

Factor analysis
Explained variance (%)
Tranquility

Sound environment

Visual environment

Tranquility

Pleasantness

Eventfulness

Pleasantness

Enclosure

Interestingness

77

55

17

44

11

10

Multiple regression (R2 = 0.85)

Dependent variable : Tranquility

* p< 0.05

Independent
variable

Unstandardized
Coefficient

Standardized
Coefficient

Pleasantness

0.60

0.60

**

12.15

0.00

Eventfulness

-0.30

-0.30

-8.99

0.00

Pleasantness

0.23

0.23

5.18

0.00

Enclosure

0.13

0.13

3.89

0.00

Interestingness

0.11

0.11

**
**
**
**

3.19

0.00

Acoustic factors

Visual factors

**p < 0.01

R square

0.85**

20 MAR 2013

21

HANYANG UNIVERSITY
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS LAB

Summary
Church gardens play important role in social functions
in terms of Important functions and Spatial elements

Temple gardens play important role in religious functions

in terms of Sound elements

L90, N90 and acoustic / visual Pleasantness affect on the perception of tranquility
Soundscapes of temple gardens are dominant factors to construct tranquility
in urban religious spaces