Housing fair home Honka Huomen introduces sound design into living

Press release 
Free for publication on 31 July 2020 at 9:30 am

Housing fair home Honka Huomen introduces sound design into living

“Sounds have an undeniable effect on wellbeing,” says designer Aki Päivärinne.

“Sounds are present in our lives constantly, but at the same time they are alien to us. The soundscape I created for the Honka Huomen house is suggestive of what effect sound design can have on people’s living environment and, for example, relaxation sessions,” says designer Aki Päivärinne. Sound design that has been used in commercial premises now enters the home. In the Honka Huomen house at the Tuusula Housing Fair, it is part of the solutions that nourish all the senses. 

“Not just acoustics, but sound design has been found to have an effect on people’s wellbeing. The significance of sound within a space should be given more thought, because we spend a lot of time in the built environment,” says Aki Päivärinne from Granlund. The designer has created soundscapes in a number of places – amusement parks, airports, grocery stores – but this is the first time he has been designing them for a home.  

The breathable natural materials and ecological log construction of Honka Huomen inspired him: “The sound material fluctuates from one delicate state to the next. The work was inspired by the architecture of the house, creating a sense of flow. The work is composed of natural sounds and the changing seasons and how we experience them. Some of the elements include a brook, rapids, summer night at a lake, the top of a fell, and a swamp. I’ve recorded autumn rain among birches, a wintery fell landscape and a snowy forest in January, when snow is falling off the branches,” says Aki Päivärinne.

“My idea was to observe psychoacoustical conditions, that is, how people hear things and how I might add to that. In the cool-down room in Honka Huomen, you can enjoy a book while listening to water in its different states. As to the kitchen, I wanted to include sounds of flowing water, sounds we associate with freshness and cleanliness. In the spacious living room, you can hear the changing seasons. Sound design can help you recover, wind down.”

Beautiful source of sound

Honkarakenne is implementing the audio work together with Genelec.  A total of eight of these active speakers, manufactured in Iisalmi, have been integrated inconspicuously into the structures. The G Series speakers in the living room and kitchen are made of recycled aluminium. The domestic content is more than 80%.