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Peace as a luxury of the future - Why do cities need an "architecture of silence"?
Source: eKapija
Wednesday, 22.10.2025.
00:13
Wednesday, 22.10.2025.
00:13
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Illustration (Photo: Snowscat/Unsplash)
"The Architecture of Silence" combines the science of sound and the art of construction, restoring peace to a space that has lost it. Pavle Panić, founder and director of architectural studio 13 and member of the Association of Serbian Architectural Practices, emphasizes that the fight against noise is no longer a luxury, but a necessity of urban planning and architectural action.
- Methods for noise reduction are varied and adapted to different environments and sound sources. Passive and active technologies, as well as solutions in urban planning and traffic management, are most often combined. Passive methods prevail in our practice - says Panić.
He explains that passive methods are based on blocking, absorbing or redirecting the sound, and include sound barriers and walls made of dense materials like concrete or brick, but also vegetative barriers, i.e. green walls and belts of trees, which have an ecological function in addition to the aesthetic one. Special attention, he adds, is paid to insulation in buildings, through the application of materials such as mineral wool, fiberglass and acoustic panels, as well as windows with multi-layered glass.
Panić notes that, although less often, in practice active technologies for noise control are increasingly appearing, such as active noise cancellation (ANC) or masking of unwanted frequencies with more pleasant tones, which is already used in public transport and airports.
In the future, as he says, "smart facades and acoustic sensors will bring a new dimension to noise management in architecture.
- Technological development shifts the approach to noise control from static solutions to dynamic and responsive systems. Smart facades can react to changes in external noise in real time, using microphones and speakers to neutralize unwanted frequencies - similar to noise-cancelling headphones - Panić explains.
However, as he points out, the biggest challenges in the implementation of the "architecture of silence" in existing cities are not only technical, but also financial and aesthetic.
- The biggest problems are costs, the complexity of reconstruction of old buildings and the balance between silence, functionality and visual identity of the space. That is why it is crucial to apply phased and integrated approaches, to combine design and materials that do not violate authenticity, and at the same time muffle noise - he states.
Illustration (Photo: Chait Goli from Pexels)
When it comes to innovations, Panić points out that acoustic metamaterials, acoustic concrete, light aerogels and green walls of the new generation are among the most promising solutions for the future.
- Sustainable materials such as recycled rubber, cork and hemp fibers are showing excellent results. They not only quieten the space, but also contribute to the sustainability of the construction - Panić adds.
In the fight against noise in cities, the biggest enemy of silence is not always cars, but - people. More precisely, their lack of understanding of the physical laws of acoustics. As Professor Miomir Mijić, an expert in acoustics from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, explains, although traffic is the dominant source of noise in the capital, right behind it are the building ventilation and air conditioning systems, the so-called HVAC systems.
- Their growing importance in the threat of noise was caused by the effects of climate change, but also by the increase in people`s expectations in the domain of air and thermal comfort - says Professor Mijić.
When architecture can (not) help
While solving traffic noise is a matter of urban planning and the city`s traffic organization, the possibilities of architecture to influence it are limited.
- Between the facade of the building and the road there is nothing that could affect the exposure to noise. In the domain of architecture, you can only adjust the configuration and materialization of the facade, possibly the organization of the space around the building, but the ranges of all that are within the limits of a few decibels - the professor explains.
Where architecture plays a dominant role is the noise control of mechanical equipment. However, in practice, mistakes are often made.
- A mistake we often see is that during the design process, the accommodation of bulky HVAC machines is not thought about. In the end, they all end up on the roof or on the ground next to the building, where people from the surrounding buildings watch and listen to them. And then the machines become an element of architecture - Mijić warns.
What does "architecture of silence" really mean?
Although the term "architecture of silence" sounds appealing, Professor Mijić points out that the term is actually rather vague.
- Silence is a relative term. We can talk about absolute silence - when the surrounding sounds are so quiet that the senses do not register them. But, paradoxically, that`s when people start hearing what they didn`t before - speech, noises, footsteps. The ideal peace becomes its opposite - he explains.
There is, however, another kind of silence - the one in which sounds are present, but do not attract the attention of the ear.
- The experience of silence arises when the sounds around us do not attract attention and remain outside of our consciousness. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to have a constant, neutral sound of a moderate level in the environment, which does not draw attention - says Mijić.
According to him, such a "neutral hum" can be the sound of traffic itself - if it is present in a dosed manner.
- The architecture of silence, in this sense, is reduced to the adjustment of traffic noise to the desired level. And that is a serious challenge for which there is no simple formula - he concludes.
Most important innovation – knowledge
When it comes to the future, Professor Mijić does not see the solution in new materials, but in education.
- The innovation that would make the greatest progress is not material, but educational - quality education about building acoustics for all participants in design and construction. A lot of things that are wrong arise from misunderstanding - he points out.
He adds that the "architecture of silence" can also be realized with today`s technologies - if the essence of the problem is understood.
- Everything can be achieved even with what we have today, if there is understanding in the design team. Acoustics is based on simple physical laws, so probably nothing revolutionary can be done there. In the last 50 years, we have been able to create an architecture of silence, if we are asked to do so - and if we are allowed - Professor Mijić concludes.
Ivana Žikić
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studio 13
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Miomir Mijić
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Architecture of Silence
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