The architecture of silence : when absence yields presence

Abstract

Nothing has changes the nature of man so much as the loss of silence... nothing has so altered man as his lack of relationship to silence... Man who has lost silence has not merely lost one human quality, but his whole structure has been changed thereby... Man is not even aware of the loss of silence; so much is the space formerly occupied by silence so full of things that nothing seems to be missing - Max Picard. Silence is important in the hectic pace of our lives; it is the vital pause, which enables us to focus, giving us direction and making us feel alive. Although we fear silence as it exposes and reveals the truth and reason for being, silence changes us. My investigation of silence in architecture is guided by four primary questions; What is Silence? What is the 'Architecture of Silence'? How is silence evoked by architecture? Since silence is more than the absence of sound, what are the essential qualities that architects utilize to create spaces of silence?