Ricciardi P., Magrini A.

An experimental and computational investigation on a Twentieth Century Christian Church, characterised by a central plan and a central dome is presented. The analysis is a part of wider investigation on worship buildings. The experimental session was carried out with the Impulse Response Analysis measurement system. Eleven measurement points of the acoustical parameters were considered. A pyramid tracing software, implemented in order to analyse the effect of the dome, was validated with the experimental results. A previous work showed that a minimum of the Reverberation Time was detected in the centre of the church, under the dome. Therefore the spatial distribution of RT was here analysed. Further on the presence of a cupola over the altar was considered and its influence on the increasing or decreasing value of RT at the centre of the plan was investigated. Possible behaviour of the dome and main volume as coupled volumes was evaluated, analysing also the variation of the absorbing coefficient of the surrounding surfaces (walls, pavements, dome and cupolas). A comparison with a more geometrically simple model was carried out aiming to define a possible general tendency of RT distribution in similar architectonic configurations.