Light & Sound

 Light and Sound.  Two elements of the physical environment that are not tangible, yet they impact our daily lives.  Our bodies are on a universal clock, tied to the rotation of the earth.  Excluding nocturnal animals, all animals and humans are wired to recognize light with activity and darkness to rest.  According to the WELL Standard, light is the primary driver of the visual and circadian systems.  It regulates physiological rhythms that radiate throughout the body. Disruption to this rhythm results in obesity, diabetes, depression, and other health risks. The associated study translated to simple terms:  Too much light, mainly blue light, from outdoors and screen exposure can lead to disturbed sleep patterns, which affects your health.  To improve our health and subsequent mood, we can reduce other screens such as phone or TV use in the evenings to give our bodies the cues to rest.  The same is true for lack of light.  Less light will drastically affect our moods and could lead to depression.  Providing natural light and views to the exterior will help promote a better mental state.   We use artificial light to help with the lack of daylight and Vitamin D during the dreary months of the winter solstice.

Sound has a similar effect on our bodies.  The Well Standard defines "sounds" as the human response to mechanical vibrations transmitted through the air.  Ever lay in bed at night, attempting to go to sleep, but unable because you hear the party three doors down?  Our bodies are wired to wake from sound.  It is our sole defense mechanism while we are unconscious as we sleep.  Similar to internal organs, our ears never take a break.  They never stop working.  Yet we take them for granted and rarely protect them.  We go to loud concerts, listen to headphones at a volume high enough others can hear, and the list goes on.  There are also the psychological effects of poor sound.   We may feel the violation of our privacy because our conversations can be heard through walls or frustration when repeating ourselves to others.  After years of gradual hearing loss, I decided to get hearing aids at age 39.  Most of it is genetic, but it also could be too many years of sitting too close to the TV.  I say this only to say there are things we can do to protect our ears.  We can pay attention to the headphones we use, levels of TVs, and other electronics, to name a few.  Professionally, we can ensure rooms have the appropriate amount of sound absorption and reflection materials.

Additionally, exterior solutions can absorb sound from nearby high-traffic or urban activities and replace hard surfaces with soft surfaces.  Equally important is the use of white noise to assist with the balance of noise and silence.  We take silence for granted.  We should be defining it to create an experience instead of portraying it as the leftovers of what sound does not use.