What are the similarities between auditory and visual noise? How do they actually affect us? We asked Christina Bodin – architect, teacher at the School of Architecture at KTH in Stockholm and researcher in the field of the interaction between humans and their environment. Bodin is an expert on how our physical environments affect or behavior, psychology and well-being. She focuses on the effect the office environment has on staff and organizations.

“Various cognitive studies have shown noise to have a negative impact on our productivity, the accuracy of our work and our ability to retain information.”

Noice affects our visual experience

The annoying sound of a colleague speaking on the phone

A car alarm is negative. Birdsong is soothing.

We strive for personal control

Creative sounds

Reduce noise. Increase freedom.

I believe that one of the reasons many people don’t want to go back to their offices after covid is that they don’t find the work environment as stimulating as their homes – where they may be able to customize their workspace, perhaps with a nice view or the option of opening a window to let in some fresh air. We need to allow people to take personal control over their physical work environment and encourage them to engage and interact with it. What is stimulating to one person might confuse another, so rules must be in place to maintain balance. Rather than forcing a generic, impersonal workspace, the freedom to choose is what is most important.”

At Zilenzio, we put a lot of time and care into developing sound-dampening solutions that also have a visually attractive design. Feel free to check out the different collections

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