In recent years there has been a painful increase of ventilation noise in public buildings. The newer the building the more it seems to be pervaded by the low frequency rumble from air conditioning systems.

I became aware of this through some years of listening and decided finally to study the acoustics of one of the newest buildings in Vancouver, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia designed by Arthur Erickson Architects. When it first opened in May 1976, I was curious to find out how the architect had dealt with the many questions involved in designing an anthropological museum. I was most interested in the acoustic aspects and wondered whether or not any thought had gone into creating a special acoustic environment that might enhance the visitor's experience of exhibits taken primarily from aural cultures.

I soon realized that this building sounded just like any other new public building. It is but one example of many new buildings that spring up in our cities. They all sound identical even though they fulfil different functions, and they all seem to get louder as time goes by. 

https://www.hildegardwesterkamp.ca/writings/writingsby/?post_id=23&title=%E2%80%8Bthe-new-museum-of-anthropology-in-vancouver:-an-acoustic-dump