In the mid 1980s, sound designer and composer, Hiroshi Yoshimura was contracted by friend and architectural/acoustical engineer, Hiroyoshi Shiokawa. He began working in the Sound Design Office at construction firm Misawa Home, which builds homes across Japan and elsewhere. His initial task was to assess the sound installation and impact absorption of Misawa’s extant schematics, systemising acoustic data and establishing what the company called ‘Amenity 21’; utilizing ‘wind, light, heat and other natural elements in the development of items that would enhance the living space.’ 

In speaking to his composition created for Misawa’s Amenity 21 initiative “surround,” Yoshimuas referred to his music as “close to air itself… and should be placed in the same family of sounds as the vibration of footsteps, the hum of an air conditioner, or the clanging of a spoon inside a coffee cup.”

This project, also titled Amenity 21, investigates the formal relationship of spaces that use sound - directly or indirectly, and the means in which this “perfume” may react or fill the space. To do so I created a library of architectural forms taken from places designed for sound, directly and indirectly, and designed an interaction with which to generate composition based on the form of the space.