Coming in and coming out underground spaces

Cities & health, 2019

In European countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, the compact city is regarded as a sustainable city model. Because of high density and intensity, the quality of the urban environment is essential for its success. As dense cities may also be experienced as 'dense' and 'intense' in terms of activity and sound, the acoustic environment of public urban spaces are currently attracting attention from such perspectives, including wider notions of 'quiet' and 'resonance'. To study these phenomena, a case study was set up in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and four typologies of urban public space were defined in each city. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and supported by transcribed soundtracks, respondents' statements provided insight into their experience of the acoustic environment of these spaces, i.e. the soundscapes. Results indicate that the urban environment has the potential for offering environmental and existential resonance, and points to relations between sound quality and built density. This is of importance for both urban planning and the public health agenda. Based on these initial findings it is suggested that soundscape information may offer inspiration for rethinking compact city characteristics such as density and intensity, potentially stimulating cultural uniqueness and diversity and inspire 'new typology thinking'.

2014

Does a building contain its own Voice? And if so, can that Voice be discovered, transformed and augmented by soundscape design? Barry Blesser's writings on acoustic space, discuss reverberation and resonant frequencies as providing architectural spaces with characteristic listening conditions related to the architectural space's dimensions and materiality. The paper argues that Blesser and Salter expand such discussion into pantheistic speculation when suggesting that humanity contains the imaginative capacity to experience spaces as "living spirits". This argument is achieved by building on the speculation through the discussion of a soundscape design methodology that considers space as containing pantheistic qualities. Sonic architectures are created with electroacoustic sound installations that recompose existing architectural soundscapes, to create the conditions for the emergence of the Voices of buildings. This paper describes two soundscape designs, Revoicing the Striated Soundscape and Subterranean Voices, which transformed existing architectural soundscapes for the emergence of Voices in a laneway and a building located in the City of Melbourne, Australia.

In different ways, works of art conceived for specific places lead us to consider the audience’s presence, or in a wider sense, the presence of the individual, within the space of the work. For this reason, in this chapter I analyse sound installations in urban environments using a historical and multidisciplinary approach, and focusing on their reception by the “city-citizen” (a term that recognizes the reciprocal influence of the dynamic space of the city and its urban inhabitants). When site-specific artworks include sound as a material, they also incorporate or reinforce ideas of temporality, simultaneity and dynamism and these same qualities are inherent to the modern city. Drawing on 1960s research by urban planner Kevin Lynch, I will discuss the impact of urban sound installations by Max Neuhaus, Bernard Leitner, Bill Fontana and Bruce Nauman. I will argue that all these artists create works that, by immersing the citizen in sound, change and enrich his or her perception of the city.

Research timeline, 2020

I have been independently organising the curatorial and research project of APO33, which I founded in 1997, in Nantes. The Association defends the sound arts and experimental intermedia practices by providing space for research, pedagogy and public presentation of these practices. Since the end of the 90’s I have been involved in many projects, exhibitions, performances and publication around the subject of sound, architecture, urbanism, sound art and urban soundscapes. To explain my ongoing research as an artist, academic and as part of a different group of independent researchers I will draw a detailed timeline with a selection of works, exhibition and publication related to what I think to be a significant research output.

Buildings, 2014

Does a building contain its own voice? And if so, can that voice be discerned, transformed and enhanced by soundscape design? Barry Blesser discusses the reverberation and more specifically the eigentones of a space, resonant frequencies with extended lifetimes that provide architectural spaces with a characteristic acoustic quality related to its dimensions and materiality. But the sonic qualities of an architectural space extend beyond a consideration of acoustic characteristics. What of a space's poetic properties, its own unique personality? Can soundscape design uncover such qualities of architectural spaces, and if so, can sonic architectures emerge through the recomposition and augmentation of existing sonic infrastructures? This paper describes two soundscape designs, Revoicing the Striated Soundscape and Subterranean Voices, that transformed existing sonic infrastructures for the realization of a building's Voice through the recomposition of on-site sounds.

1969

of the second experiment consisted of three sensorially differentiated types: blindfolded, deafened, and normal seeing and hearing persons. These were taken simultaneously on the same trip and the procedures were similar to those of the first experiment. In general, the hypotheses are confirmed, but it is determined from both the analysis and the experiments that the sequence was lacking in most qualities considered desirable on the basis of the hypotheses, and sound settings lacked informativeness, uniqueness, and diversity, and the visible form was not well-correlated with the sonic form. The sonic environment, as well as the non-visual environment in general, is concluded to be an important area for new design work because of its apparently important effects on visual perception and because it may be an economical way of increasing persons? delight and acceptance of the city without massive and costly redevelopment of the visible form. The elements which are considered to have the most potential for sonic design on the basis of the analysis and experiments are the large open spaces, signs and other communications, the sequence network, and small and responsive spaces.

Architecture, Music, Acoustics Conference, 2006

The acoustics of a space, particularly an enclosed one, has been extensively studied over the last 100 years, resulting in a significant body of theoretical and applied literature. Although the acoustic complexity of real spaces may exhibit subtleties that require further research, the general principles involved seem well established. However, the perception of acoustic spacehow we interpret sound as creating a sense of space -is not well understood. Perhaps the greatest impediment is our reliance on visual models of space which are relatively stable and detailed, giving us the impression that space is a fixed entity through which we can move. Auditory space, on the other hand, is constantly in flux, created moment by moment and variable to each listener. In the most general sense, acoustic or auditory space is at the core of acoustic ecology, that is, the relationship of individuals to their environment as mediated by sound. Recently, a number of composers have begun studying the acoustic spaces created by various soundscapes, with the aim of evaluating the quality of their design, as well as finding inspiration for what is generally termed soundscape composition. Multi-channel reproduction techniques have greatly aided these latter efforts, and created a three-dimensional design field comparable to architecture. The paper will discuss issues surrounding acoustic space, soundscape design and multi-channel soundscape composition.

2018

The active design of acoustic landscape qualities plays a central role in the creation of high-quality open spaces. In the course of this intervention I will present the approach of my doctoral research, which I am pursuing at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at the ETH Zurich. By relating auditory perceptual models with the tangible experience of concrete places, this research will develop new methods for the inclusion of sound in landscape architectural design.

The concept of soundscape has garnered increasing research attention over the last decade for studying and designing the sonic environment of public spaces. It is therefore critical to advance knowledge on how the soundscape of a place is evoked by its sonic environment, given visual, cultural, and situational contexts. Working Group 1 of the COST action "Soundscapes of European cities and landscapes" revolves around this question. In our current understanding the sounds that are heard during normal activities in a place trigger meaning and emotions based on the matching with expectations of the people using and acting in that place. This complete package of human experience in relation to the sonic environment can be named the soundscape. In terms of design, this understanding opens several opportunities. The designer can decide which sounds should be heard and try to make this happen by guiding the attention to particular sounds or simply remove, add or shape sounds. In doing so, he or she should keep in mind expectations of the local users. Expectations and meaning might be changed by suitable design of non-sonic features of the environment including besides the obvious visual context also the openness, lighting, local climate, etc. Bringing these concepts to practice requires new tools and methodologies.

Bagh-e Nazar, 2021

Problem statement: Environmental characteristics of different urban spaces cause different acoustical behavior in them. Acoustical behavior directly affects sound waves and causes a certain auditory atmosphere in space. Thus, when distinct spaces with different physical characteristics and diverse sound sources are contiguous, various soundscapes are created together. The dispute in the acoustical behavior of the spaces, which arises from the difference in their physical characteristics, causes the quality of the sound heard and their soundscapes to be different. Therefore, diverse types of space create different soundscapes that cause the person who moves along them to have an auditory experience with a certain quality. Research objective: The present study seeks to clarify the auditory experience of a person while moving in different spatial types of Tabriz Bazaar. Research method: A sample of Khan, Rasteh-Bazaar and Timcheh of Tabriz Bazaar, where are next to each other, had been selected as cases of the study. In order to clarify the perceptual quality resulting from the auditory experience that is obtained due to the movement in the spatial species of the Bazaar, first, the acoustical behavior of the intended spaces is explained. Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and Reverberation Time (RT) are two components that clarify the acoustical behavior of the studied spaces. Subjective assessments have been performed to clarify how people perceive the effect of the acoustical behavior of spaces on their soundscapes. Conclusion: The findings show that movement along with different spatial types in Tabriz Bazaar, causes a perceptual quality that can be called "Sonic Distinction". Sonic Distinction is an emotional and perceptual quality of the auditory experience of a person moving in different urban spaces and depends on the specific physical characteristics of the spaces, sources and sound events.