Topic: composing the city, in sound and space
When we talk about urban sounds, we think of traffic, construction,
alarm systems, etcetera. These 'sounds of modernity' are mostly perceived
as noise and pollution. The distinction between sound and noise is often
understood as the difference between the sounds that relate to one's
direct, visual environment and sounds from "outside". For
instance: if you walk through a street, a passing car will be perceived
as sound, while the same car could be perceived ad noise while sitting
in the garden. Coherence between what you see and what you hear is a
crucial factor in the appreciation for it, as researched by Carles in
1999.
Background noise, omnipresent in urbanized areas, leads to a lower
appreciation of one's environment, and causes stress for people who
constantly work and live in a noise polluted environment. In the Netherlands,
sound is after chronic exhibition to particulate matter the largest
environment-related threat of health. In 2007, the exhibition to sound
has led to 2300 DALY's (Disability Adjusted Life Years: the amount of
years spent with a disability) per 1 million inhabitants.
There are two ways to deal with the problem of background noise. The
first way - the most popular but the least interesting - is to minimalize
the background noise. Manufacturers create more silent cars, planes,
tarmac, pile drivers and so on, even research anti-sound, while urban
planners create sound walls and buffer zones, isolating the city's interior
from its traffic space. These are technical solutions, that are effective
for its purpose but have negative aspects as well: sound walls restrict
the drivers'notion of their environment, buffer zones do the same but
also use valuable city space in an inefficient way. Thanks to this approach,
a vast network of no-man's-land is created in the city, that is maintained
and used at the minimum level.
The second way is to create new foreground noise. Take a fountain on a
plaza: it kills the background noise while creating a new unity in sound
and space. If it's one of the few fountains in the city, it will strengthen
the identity of the plaza. Of course the fountain is a known example,
but also the sounds of boats, soccer fields, bridges, police cars, traffic
lights and trees could be used to create site specific sounds, that
help to orientate in the city and identify places. Strangely enough,
this way of dealing with sound is hardly explored.
The working field of landscape architecture is moving more and more
into the loud reality of urban space, still the design of public space
is mainly approached functionally and visually. Landscape architects
should expand their "sonic toolbox", in order to improve the
quality of urban environments. In order to do so, the integration of
sound arts into public space is a logical step, just as the widely spread
integration of visual arts into public space.
Contemporary sound artists who have moved their work field into public
space, are facing the same encounters as landscape architects do; the
sound work is exposed to a political field, to spatial dynamics and
social context. The most inspiring examples of sound works in public
space react on this context, and deal with these dynamics. Some sound
works even go one step further and use public space or a building itself
as an instrument, instead of placing a "sound object" in it.
In this approach, sound helps to understand the space, and intensifies
its experience. Of course it's not clear how to "play" a building
or a place as an instrument, or what to play.
for more information info@composedcity.org
28/10/2010