Mix House by Joel Sanders, Ben Rubin & KVL

Since the birth of printing and perspective, architecture has been ocularcentric Pallasmaa. The “quintessential icons of modernism” is the floor-to-ceiling window, the curtain wall. For Rubin these present acoustical problems. The Mix House attempts to re-introduce sound into the residence, to play with both visual and aural transparency. Created by Joel Sanders, Ben Rubin, Karen Van Lengen it explores the possibility of closely coordinating sound and vision with the goal of enhancing the individual’s audiovisual experience of the domestic landscape. Situated on a generic suburban plot, the dwelling is composed of two sound-gathering volumes with three audiovisual windows. The curved profile of each of these sonic windows is composed of two elements: a louvered glass window wall that regulates the sound of the air-borne ambient environment, and a parabolic dish that electronically targets domestic sounds and transmits them to an interior audio system controlled from the kitchen island. From here occupants are free to design original domestic soundscapes by mixing media sponsored sounds with the ambient noises of the neighborhood.