An acoustical palette for urban design
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Abstract
An acoustical palette for urban design interventions was developed as part of a soundscape study for the redevelopment of a transition district in a medium-sized city. Design strategies included reducing, buffering and mitigating undesirable existing sounds; preserving and enhancing desirable existing sounds; and introducing design elements that bring with them new sounds and activities that are desired to enhance the acoustical, architectural and social life of the district. A series of acoustical measurements, modeling, auralizations and corresponding architectural design studies were executed to explore the possibilities for the acoustical interventions as urban design strategies. The result of the study consists of a series of aural and architectural images of proposed design elements for inclusion in the new district plan.
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Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe) [Volume 2]
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2016
Since the 80s, several researches have developed the theoretical notions of sound effects, sound proxemy, city sound identities, sound comfort, architectural sound prototypes which were meant to help designers consider sound in their projects. Nevertheless, taking care of the inherent sound dimensions in architectural urban projects remains an unresolved challenge. The researches of the last 30 years have shown how the sound environment qualities are forgotten in favour of visual qualities. This article presents a new method dedicated to generating simple sound sketches for architectural conception while preserving the complexity of acoustic simulation. This paper argues that the Esquis'sons! sound sketch tool reconfigures architectural design by considering an innovative view its the temporality, allowed by numeric designing tools able to intervene and offer a continuous feedback regarding sound environment.
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References (5)
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