Bio
Zackery Belanger was educated as a physicist and trained in acoustic architecture. His expertise lies in the shaping of surfaces and objects for acoustic performance, from the small scale of pores and fibers to the large sweeping curves of rooms. He was the inaugural Researcher-in-Residence at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer (Troy, NY)—a building which he helped design—and has built a reputation for merging sound and light in the design process. In 2022, he was awarded an Architect Magazine R+D award for Long Range, which is an acoustic surface made of auto glass. Zackery has spoken extensively on the future of acoustic design. His firm is (newly) called Umbel, and seeks to reintroduce the acoustic benefits of ornamentation into architecture. He is the author of the long-form essay "Acoustic Ornament."
Abstract
This installation will project evolving acoustic energy onto surfaces in the Siebel Center for Design and will include a presentation of Zackery's work, along with a discussion about the potential of acoustic shaping in architecture.