Spectres & Camouflage: The Sound of Silence (1938-1970)

Silence is a rare - often beautiful, sometimes discomfiting - phenomenon.

Harnessed in different manners, silence has multiple cultural, societal, scientific, psychological, artistic and military implications.

In the 20th C., the impact and exploitation of silence manifested in the technological search for the soundless environment: a search which centred upon environmental control and design. It was shaped by disciplinary and international transfers of knowledge. Ultimately, the technology became known as anechoic (free from echo).

However, despite touching on numerous disciplines, and its relevance to a complex interplay of global knowledge-transfer, conflict and culture, very little is known of the architectural, military, and cultural history underpinning the development of this technology.

SPECTRES-CAMOUFLAGE examines the catalysts and implications inherent in that technological search, exploring its impact on design and experimentation, military strategy and cultural production.

It will explore how the developmental interplay that supported a culturally iconic medium also positioned it at the vanguard of technology and inserted it into global politics and conflict in the 20th C. The timeframe of the project extends from the eve of WWII to 1970.

This project will draw together this intricate history, take account of transfers of knowledge and establish the resultant transformations of knowledge.

It will integrate the histories of architecture, music, technology and war studies examining how developments in each propelled one another forward.

The project?s multidisciplinary strands drawn together will constitute a new prism for learning more about technology transfer across the globe and across disciplines.

At its core, this research could reposition the role of technology and environmental design in 20th C. global conflict, culture, and knowledge transfer, offering a new concept of environmental silence as a catalyst, mapped across disciplines.