Seven Centuries of Church Architectural Evolution and Its Influence on Indoor Acoustics: The Case of the Dome of Conegliano in Italy

Abstract

Sacred constructions like churches are built both for holy and architectural purposes. They are influenced by the design fashions, city history and the government. When a church, or more generally a religious building, is constructed, it is rarely torn down. Instead, these kinds of edifices are refurbished, expanded and modified according to the architectural trend of a specific period. The indoor activities of the church have changed over time, especially after the Second Vatican Council. Thus, it can be interesting to study the past modifications of churches and their features and uses. The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of a building’s history on the architectural change over time and more specifically, the subsequent influence on the indoor acoustic field. Additionally, this study aims to show how a precise and scientific reconstruction of a church’s history, using ancient documents, can provide researchers with a valuable method of investigation. Furthermore, this study aims to analyze the indoor acoustics of these holy buildings over time and elucidate whether these were considered or not for the purposes of the contemporary sacred celebrations. Therefore, in this paper, the Dome of Conegliano (Italy) is the focus of the present study. Detailed historical research was performed by means of reviewing ancient documents to faithfully reconstruct the Dome’s history. Furthermore, acoustic measurements were executed to characterize its shape in our times. Using these results, the ancient configuration of the dome was reconstructed virtually and compared to the contemporary one. Interestingly, the results show that seven centuries of history did influence the church’s architecture and consequently its indoor acoustics. The source–receiver distance has been shown to be an influential parameter, determining that the church is acoustically more suitable for listening to music rather than voice. Clearly, the Dome of Conegliano’s indoor acoustics were not modified or improved over time to fulfill their potential use, but the internal shape was modified according to the architectural fashion and to fulfill other requests as well as the structural requirements of the owners.