I was at the MCA in Sydney this week – great exhibition on time and clocks  (in the ‘seconds mater’, disorientating, modern, western sort of way). The new wing is pretty cool to look at – but deafening to wander around and, especially, to eat in. All block concrete and bouncing of airwaves.

Having mild tinnitus, and playing in a few bands, I am interested in noise.  And the future of noise.  I have a hunch that over the next 3 decades we will see noise in public places becoming a key issue (a bit like the journey on public smoking)

I have seen schools with impressive noise reduction in corridors (carpet on floor, soft display boards on walls) and there is already big business in managing acoustics in high end restaurants and offices. This site is starting to nudge in that direction with a focus on atmosphere.

Tags: future, trends