An Acoustical Analysis of Domes Coupled to Rooms

Concave surfaces are often considered to be detrimental or precarious in room acoustics, especially because of the impact they have on the distribution of sound energy. However, it is often difficult to avoid such surfaces in buildings with specific architectural functions. A primary example of this involves mosques, sacred places of worship for Muslims. In keeping with the Islamic architectural style, most mosques incorporate a symbolic centralized domed ceiling as part of their roof structures. Owing to the distinctness and ubiquity of this basic architectural form, a thorough, fundamental analysis of such environments would be useful to the architectural acoustics community. In this study, predictions from computer models were compared to the results derived from physical scale model measurements in a 1:12 scale model of Darussholah mosque, in East Java, Indonesia. Statistical analysis were used to compare results from the measurements with variations of domed ceiling configurations and other aspects of the measurement setting. This book helps to establish criteria for good acoustics in mosques and other buildings with domed ceilings.