Recycling Noise: A Kinetic Facade Prototype for Sonic Urbanism
Description
In fast-changing, densely populated cities, façades serve not only as architectural expressions but also as thresholds between interior and exterior worlds. Noise, one of the elements typically shut out, is often dismissed as pollution—something to be reduced or silenced. But if we begin to read noise instead as an urban symbol, it reveals itself as a living imprint of the city, a way for us to hear its hidden activities and rhythms.
This project proposes a kinetic façade that recycles urban noise into form, light, shadow, and music. Rather than a mute surface, it becomes a façade that listens—one that allows the interior and the city to interfere with and enrich one another in a state of mutual coexistence.
In the exhibition, the façade reacts to urban sounds—traffic, construction, shifting weather—by transforming its geometry and surface structure. These changes cast evolving patterns of light and shadow into the interior. Using real-time generative technologies, these fluctuations are translated into music, animating the space. Passersby, whether walking by, pausing, or interacting, feed into the system and further alter its sonic output. Visitors can experiment by using their voices to trigger dynamic responses at the front of the installation, or by moving their bodies behind it to control the opening and closing of the façade, listening as the “recycled” sounds take shape as music.
The system functions as both sound filter and urban amplifier, transforming the city’s everyday noise into a shared sensory experience. It invites citizens to listen differently, to take part in the making of sound, and to reimagine both the acoustic landscape and the public spaces of the city.
Biography
All three collaborators share a foundation in bachelor architectural education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, before continuing their paths in advanced research and design across Hong Kong and United States. Their collective work reflects a shared interest in the intersections of architecture, technology, and cultural practice.
Lincoln Chan is a Master of Architecture I student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He earned his BSSc in Architectural Studies from CUHK in 2022, graduating on the Dean’s List and receiving the Scholastic Award from the AIA Hong Kong Chapter. A founding member of the Craft Design Research Lab, his work explores computationally assisted craft architecture and techno-cultural synthesis, with features in exhibitions and publications including the HKIA Journal: Technology in Architecture (2025).
Tony Lau is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture I at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His interests span material exploration, building technology, and experimental music production, informing his design approach at the intersection of structure and sensory experience.
Chen Jiajian Ian is a PhD student at CUHK’s School of Architecture, focusing on outdoor human thermal comfort and computational design. As a founding member of the Craft Design Research Lab, he explores traditional crafts with contemporary structural and digital methodologies. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, deTour HK, and the Roving Architecture Exhibition (RAX).
Materials
Façade Prototype: 20x20 aluminium extrusion, servo motors, reflective film coated acrylic panels
Interactive devices: 24" monitors, headphones, microphone, webcam
Organisation
N/A
Acknowledgments
HK skyline photo (Joshua J. Cotten)
