Perhaps it can be a means of psychological well being, or an experience that may effect our long term memory if the design of a scheme's threshold of any type is designed to a level of sophistication in terms of soundscapes? 

Basic concepts regarding sound qualities, are part of the curriculum of any accredited Architectural education. This topic is typically covered on an engineering level, with the intent of providing basic vocabulary to be used as a basis of discussion.

But, because Architecture is more about the visual and material impact of the built environment, the possibilities of 'sonic design' are generally not pursued in the education sphere on a rigorous basis, fostering this is what I assume is the intent of asking this question.

As the human world becomes more and more crowded, the use of 'sonic design' to foster cooperation, isolation, and life quality in an artistic and creative fashion needs to be part of the development of the Architecture student beyond just learning the basics. Practical issues and solutions need to be explored in school studio as well as professional practice.

all the Best;

Russ

The distribution of sound depends on the surrounding surface materials; the volume of the space plus

noise attenuation from external sources needs materials with appropriate sound reduction losses

building designers architects and engineers select materials so sound must be included in an architects education.

This question poses me some considerations, previous to an approach on design methodology or even in a propaedeutic of architectural design. In fact every word challenges a kind of a metadisciplinar inquiry.

I’ll pick ‘design/design process’ as concepts that frame the question. Designing X with ‘sound’ taken as a property of X, the ‘object’ being designed. Then ‘Architectural Education’ should take it into account on its process. But such a linear hypothesis is misleading. As I see it: ‘sound’ as a property of ‘the world’ depends on specific ability of ‘subjects/agents’ in the same world, because it is a neurophysiological response ‘within the world’ – ‘environment’ – that gradually embeds and constructs what simply can be said ‘content/meaning’, a semiotic relationship inherent to a 'sentient subject/agent’. This ‘process’ engages holistically ‘subject/object’ inevitably, and does not depend on intentional and conscious will, is an attribute of a kind of ‘sentient agents’, human animals like us included. Following this proposal ‘sound’ is a fundamental - basics - on ‘Architectural Education’. Afterword: Forgive me for such a brief statement on such complex issue. From a pragmatic point o view we can survey the problem by taking into account the magnitude of architectural magazines dedicated solely to 'vision experience' compared to 'sound experience'. Those interested on the subject must deduce 'sound properties' from 'images'. Such mediation calls for experience and experience is a difficult matter to be 'introduced' in the 'design process'. We need to experience 'the world', sense it, feel it, in order to imagine 'another world'. That is primarily a 'bodily/enactive/artistic agency' rather than an 'intellectual theoretical task'.

It is one of the main Building Performance Mandates that affect the occupant well-being and delight, which is the ultimate goal of all architectural products.

One of the objectives of any architectural piece is user comfort. Sound is a factor of human comfort as it determines several things. One is the usability of the space for the function it is designed for. Another is the ease of communication by the users of the space. Yet another is the disturbance that will be caused by the activity the space is to be used for. Related is the need for serenity in the space being designed. The list goes on......... Design should therefore not be carried out without consideration for sound. 

In most early year architecture studios, students are introduced to the concept of shape as well as form (mostly visual) and not few are drilled with drawing exercises (another visual form) and very little emphasis is given to sound, but as the students start to be exposed to the concept of 'space'; it is very important for them to be exposed to the sensory dimensions of the form including sound. 

You may be interested to watch this video:

https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_why_architects_need_to_use_their_ears?language=en

We need to consider all our senses in designing the built environment.

There are many ways we may define the content of Architectural Curriculum.

But if we think 'Architecture as Science of Common Sence,' then it becomes easy to perceive what should be required for architecture education.

Long ago J. Mitchen asked himself what if in the future Architecture will have a world of the 14-inch monitor where everything will be virtual. Who will design that virtual world- in the quest of his question the architecture community are becoming involved with 3d visualisation and finally we are thinking about augmented reality.

All these indicated Architecture education is something that requires continuous modification, alternation to address ever-changing human needs. If an architect doesn't know about the certain things, he will not be able to design something practical.

In General, we study- Structure Mathematics to understand the structure of build form, not to create mathematically solved concrete section or requirements of steel in a building. Architects understanding of structure assists structures engineers to create dream architecture.

So- Sound in Architecture Education will help Architects to understand how space may be evaluated in respect of hearing sensory perception.

His understanding of sound will help a sound engineer to solve structure like Sydney Opera House, a very quiet meditation space or a church.

I suppose there are two main issues raised by the idea of sound in architecture.  The first is a matter of room acoustics.  This is really a special case of spaces that are intended for acoustical communication, obviously concert halls, theatres and lecture rooms etc.  Nowadys this can be pretty acurately modelled on computers but this is a tedious process of feedback or evaluation rather than design assistance.  (Like most building science!)  However there are a few good principles that students can learn such as shapes and reflection patterns that are likley to give good acoustics or poor acoustics. Im sure these should be taught.  (Always remembering how wonderfully Scharoon designed the Berlin Phil without any real mathematical help at all !)

The seond issue is one of noise transmission and this is not very glamorous by comparison but really very important.  Unwanted noise is a real issue in many building typologies.  If you look at the work I have published here about hospital design you will find that these buildings are inherently noisy and often make it difficult for patients to sleep. No thats bnot a good idea is it?  More research shows that by eliminating this noise massive improvements can be made to patient health outcomes.  All a bit boring maybe and not very space creating but really important none the less.  Probably this is too technical an issue for most early architectural curricula 

Bryan makes a good point with respect to concert halls. Ludwig Cremer helped Scharoun with the acoustics of the Philharmonie in Berlin but also Karajan as the client insisted  this hall should be designed from inside to outside as he wanted his musicians and audience to savour the sound-- if they did not it was in his eyes a waste of money. You need to have a feeling for music sound quality---warmth, the bloom of tone etc.as the late Derek Sugden showed when designing the acoustics for the Maltings at Snape. The Birmingham Concert Hall is another excellent example but alas the Barbican and Royal Festival Hall failed in this respect. Computer modelling helps but it is not the whole story for music acoustics. Sir Simon Rattle is pushing for a new London Concert Hall for his return from Berlin to London in 2018 and no doubt he will want it to be the equal of the Philharmonie he has enjoyed for the last few years. 

To design for inclusion of people who may have particular issues with noise, e.g. people with autism, people with dementia, older people who are hard of hearing (all increasing populations) . But also for everyone else, bearing in mind usage...I was in a multipurpose room in an award-winning building earlier this year for an event. All hard surfaces meant that the acoustic quality was extremely poor: conversations were difficult to follow, and hoarse after ten minutes from trying to make oneself heard. I left...

Humans are the primary and most important users of the built environment. To this end, human shelters are generally designed to suit human needs, convenience and comfort . Therefore in designing any aspects of the built environment, it is imperative that adequate consideration is given to issues that are likely to affect any of the five human senses.

Here is an example of using the sound qualities of a building as an Architectural feature, once you get past the historic recording equipment: http://newatlas.com/studio-bell-nmc-calgary/44787/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=fa775c8f95-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-fa775c8f95-92512825

Dear colleagues,

I have been following the views on this topic, where before ever attended. I think, as then, we are superimposing several levels, which makes the debate someway difficult. Maybe by granting an inordinate burden at the level of built objects and technical and technological processes that led each epoch to its proper materialization, at the expense of fundamental questions. E.g. those that now should be identified as sources for the decisions that led these processes. We need a 'subject's turn': thinking the qualities of 'architectural objects' according to our capabilities and global and integrated neurological attributes, for example. 'Sound' in this type of analysis, comes as core determinant, even when 'visual' seems to be the case.

I am a Conservation Architect. As part of my PhD studies, I am exploring the relationship that Music and Architectural spaces share with each other on one of the Indian river basins. My findings are that various forms of Sound behave in a different manner in architectural volumes and space. Particularly music is socially organised around architectural spaces in certain patterns. Apart from that architectural acoustics itself is a major area to explore.