Biography
“Sometimes you have to close your eyes to see what is in front of you”
Sébastien Jouan is a French sound plastician and acoustic designer. He designs sound installations that examine the relationship between people and their surroundings, and how sound impacts our inner selves. He specialises in 3D ambisonic installations and uses alternative sound technology to unsettle audiences by projecting sound where people don’t expect sound to be heard.
He has also a passion on how the built environment and its acoustic response impacts the sonic and acousmatic experience.
As an acoustic designer based in Paris and working alongside architects, Seb has a wealth of experience designing concert halls, operas, theatres, studios, museums and galleries. He created his acoustic consultancy practice called Studio Jouan in 2022.
Before the creation of his practice, he was a Partner and the Principal of the acoustic team at Theatre Projects (TP) which he started in 2014. Sébastien is also known for his work in the field of 3D sound and auralisation (Auralisation is the sound equivalent to visualisation). When working with Arup, he initiated a collaboration with the Glasgow School of Art’s Digital Design Studio which led to the creation of a new SoundLab integrating 3D visualization walkthroughs. This work made it possible to immerse people in new concert halls and benchmark them whilst the same music is playing. Auralisation is also used to demonstrate aural qualities of sound art pieces or the impact of High Speed Railway Lines such as the new HS2 in UK. His work was depicted in Wired Magazine in 2010.
Since 2018, he teaches to architecture and music students at the Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau on the subject of how architecture and its acoustic response has influenced artistic creation and music in particular.
He is one of the co-authors of the recently published Modern Theatres 1950-2020 by David Staples.
He was a tutor between 2002 and 2006 at the London Bartlett School of Architecture helping students on performing arts projects. He was also on the board of directors of Cryptic in Glasgow between 2008 and 2011, a contemporary art house with performances fusing music, sound, art, and multimedia.
Back in 1999 and 2000, he was also the Technical Director of the Franco-Guinean Cultural Centre in Conakry and was part of the organising team for the 1999 Conakry International Percussion Festival which welcomed musicians such as Elvin Jones, Marilyn Mazur and Femi Kuti.
Sébastien has a master degree in Acoustics (1999) from the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) in Southampton, UK.
