Designed by the late Eero Saarinen and built in the 1950s, Kresge Auditorium brought a welcome breath of fresh architectural freedom to the campus of MIT. Admired as it was for its clean lines, the design posed a serious challenge to BBN, the acoustical consultants.

Employing arrays of panels to direct sound away from the curved ceiling, they successfully neutralized the auditorium's less than favorable geometry. However, over time, the hall's initial success had been tempered by complaints about acoustical non-uniformity in the house and the musicians' inability to hear on stage. Both issues were addressed by Acentech, the successor to BBN, as part of the 1998 renovation of the building.

Acentech's approach was simple and, in view of recent advances in the science of auditorium acoustics, obvious. Rather than reflect all the sound to the audience, they chose to reflect some of it back to the stage and spread the rest as uniformly as possible over the seating areas. To do this, they turned to RPG Diffusor Systems who, using advanced computer technology, designed new panels that not only met the acoustical goals, but are a fitting complement to the hall's architecture.

To quote MIT's Lawrence Isaacson: "As a conductor, I can hear my ensemble much more clearly, allowing for greater ease in correcting balance and pitch problems; as a player, I can hear the other musicians across the stage much better than before; and as a listener, I have noted that now most all of the seats in the auditorium boast an even, balanced sound." Thank you RPG!

Acentech, Inc., Cambridge, MA