Soundscape of the new Central Public Library in Turin

The study was conducted in order to inform the design of the new central public library in Turin. This involved the use of Odeon 18 software to simulate the acoustic environment within the library, with a view to understanding the impact of this simulated environment on the cognitive aspects of potential library users. A specific research project was undertaken with the objective of gaining an understanding of the typical noises that can be expected in a library setting and then reproducing these within the simulated environment. The sounds were recorded in an anechoic chamber using either a MIDI keyboard or in a free field. The Odeon 18 software was employed to import the 3D design of the library, position the receivers and the selected sources for the simulation, attribute the sounds to the sources and finally convolve and mix these sounds according to the position of each receiver. To investigate the impact of noise on cognitive performance, a series of tests were conducted in the anechoic chamber at the Polytechnic of Turin. The tests comprised six trials, with each trial conducted once in a quiet environment and once with the noise previously produced by the simulation played through headphones.