Akoustolith is a porous ceramic material resembling stone. It was used to limit acoustic reflection and noise in large vaulted ceilings. The most prevalent use was to aid speech intelligibility in cathedrals and churches prior to the widespread use of public address systems

Public address

A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...

. Akoustolith was bonded as an additional layer to the structural tile of the Tile Arch System

Guastavino tile

Guastavino tile is the "Tile Arch System" patented in the US in 1885 by Valencian architect and builder Rafael Guastavino...

 ceilings built by the Raphael Guastavino Company of New Jersey. Akoustolith was a patented product of a collaboration between Rafael Guastavino

Rafael Guastavino

Rafael Guastavino Moreno was a Valencian architect and builder, creator of the Guastavino tile, a "Tile Arch System" patented in the US in 1885. It is a technique for constructing robust, self-supporting arches and architectural vaults using interlocking terracotta tiles and layers of mortar...

 and Harvard professor Wallace Sabine

Wallace Clement Sabine

Wallace Clement Sabine was an American physicist who founded the field of architectural acoustics. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1886 at the age of 18 before joining Harvard University for graduate study and remaining as a faculty member...

over a period of years starting in 1911.

External links

• A Tale of Two Physicists: mentions the collaboration between Sabine and Guastavino.