The U.S. Supreme Court chamber uses 1930s acoustic engineering to amplify unpowered voices
The United States Supreme Court chamber utilizes specialized 1930s architectural geometry to ensure that the unamplified voices of justices and lawyers carry perfectly across the massive marble hall.
Architect Cass Gilbert designed the Supreme Court chamber in 1935 to function as a natural resonance chamber. With a 92-foot ceiling and strategically placed mahogany paneling, the room allows human speech to travel up to 100 feet without electronic assistance. Curved surfaces are engineered to diffuse high-frequency sounds above 2 kHz, eliminating distracting echoes.
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