Review of aspects that shape the aural experience in worship spaces

Physical measurements of architectural acoustics do not precisely reflect the human acoustical experience in worship spaces. While many studies focus on architectural acoustics, aural architectural analysis that includes perceptual and cultural aspects, in addition to the physical aspects, and provides more comprehensive understanding of the aural experience, is afforded less attention. Worship spaces require complicated acoustical environments that allow both the hearing of sound clearly and the experiencing of sound aesthetics. This experience can create emotional effects through the perception of sound; therefore, there is the need for further study on the relationship between the qualitative and quantitative acoustical characteristics of religious buildings. This review paper provides a comparative analysis of previous studies in terms of physical, perceptual, and cultural aspects of acoustics, and further clarifies the research gap in this area. Finally, it recommends strategies for studying the aura...