The coupled rooms of Odeo Cornaro (1534) as support for Renaissance musicians and soloists

The Odeo Cornaro in Padua (Italy) is a well-preserved XVI Century octangular music space (from Latin the ottangulo) surrounded by communicating smaller halls. Inspired by Roman classicism, the Renaissance architect Falconetto designed such coupled volume system for the private villa of the Venetian nobleman Alvise Cornaro. With the aim of assessing the acoustics of the Odeo by means of a contemporary approach, acoustic measurements were performed, and the room acoustic criteria were derived from the acquired impulse responses. Experimental results were employed to quantify the acoustic coupling effects throughout the environments and to outline the acoustic features of the central space. Numerical models were used to assess the free path distribution and the support given by the ottangulo to the singers’ voices. The main outcomes confirm the different use of the spaces suggested by historical research: while the main hall was probably employed for singing and playing instruments, the adjoining rooms were intended for erudite conversations and symposia. The symmetrical shape and the moderate volume of the central octangular space contribute to creating a neat modal behaviour that accentuates the sound propagation, highlighting the outstanding value of the Odeo as one of the “loci resonantes” of the past.