AN ACOUSTIC EXPERIENCE: "KERFONIC WALL"

The Kerfonic Wall, designed by Negar Kalantar and Alireza Borhani, displayed at the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco. Wall; It has a voronoic structure inspired by the sand formation in nature. Thanks to this structure, angled walls are created in different directions and the sound is focused as desired. At the same time wall; It consists of over 54 pieces of custom-cut plywood distributed in an uneven way. The kerfs on the pieces are turning them into freeform surfaces with varying levels of flexibility.

A Form From Nature

The flexibility required to obtain the desired cluster; depends on the geometry of the cut pattern, the size of the kerfs, the cut density, and the number of pattern iterations. The use of corrugated and sound-diffusing panels improves the auditory experience in the wall space, but this experience has been proven by acoustic testing before and after the wall is completed.

Acoustic tests performed; revealed the effect of the kerf shape, width and opening level, curvature and depth of the panel surface and the air gap behind these surfaces on acoustic performance.

The “Kerphonic Wall” provides acoustic enhancement within the gallery and helps people enjoy intimate conversations in an open-plan space.

Multi-Dimensional Visuality

While designing the “Kerfonic Wall”, it was aimed to create a visual and auditory balance to provide a multidimensional experience to the gallery visitors. It is believed that this project will lead to the development of acoustically reflective and absorbent surfaces, as they have versatile and adaptive acoustic properties to focus and diffuse sound.

Each panel; Because they are unique in size, depth, and angle, a parametric model was used to convert these surfaces into 2D planar plates to make them ready for laser cutting. In this project, audio requirements, geometric parameters, production constraints, assembly logic shaped the design. For example; this wall was completed during the pandemic with only two laser cutters. However, the underlying difficulties of producing these special panels without disposable molds or extra tools have been overcome. Before being brought to the gallery, the panels were prepared by mounting them on the slab.