Sound as an integral part of the spatial landscape experience and design (original) (raw)
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Sound in Landscape Architecture : A Soundscape Approach to Noise
Landscape planning and design involve decisions that have far-reaching effects, positive and negative, on the soundscape. However, landscape architecture and related disciplines have not fully recognised the possibilities of considering sound issues in design projects. This is problematic, considering that sound influences health and wellbeing and is an important factor in environmental experience. This thesis examines how soundscape thinking can be facilitated in landscape architecture. The work is based on a mixed-method approach and it is practice-orientated in the sense that it studies how landscape architects currently work with sound and how they could work with sound in the future. The soundscape concept is used to emphasise the experiential characteristics of the sonic environment and to discuss the role of sound in landscape architecture, particularly in noise-exposed situations. Applications of soundscape design are raised in several examples, including construction of a design intervention as a reference project involving noise masking. The understandings obtained are used to formulate a set of strategies and tools for the profession as a soundscape approach to noise, in which problems and possibilities are given consideration to ensure a varied and purposeful environment. A model based on three categories is presented to evaluate and facilitate such a comprehensive approach, where each of the three categories (localisation of functions, reduction of unwanted sounds and introduction of wanted sounds) represents a central consideration that can be taken in landscape architecture. An extended version of the comprehensive model is also presented. It comprises a list of 23 ‘soundscape actions’, each of which represents a concrete, general strategy that can be adopted to improve soundscapes, particularly focusing on noise-exposed situations. To increase applicability, the soundscape actions were developed in collaboration with professional landscape architects, Master’s students, acousticians, artists and other experts. The findings are discussed in relation to contemporary challenges in the profession, particularly focusing on the sustainability discourse and covering issues such as green structures, densification and the notion of ‘quiet areas’.
Site Soundscapes Landscape architecture in the light of sound
2003
Hedfors, Per. 2003. Site Soundscapes – landscape architecture in the light of sound. Doctor’s dissertation. issn 1401-6249, isbn 91-576-6425-0. This research was based on the assumption that landscape architects work on projects in which the acoustic aspects can be taken into consideration. In such projects activities are located within the landscape and specific sounds belong to specific activities. This research raised the orchestration of the soundscape as a new area of concern in the field of landscape architecture; a new method of approaching the problem was suggested. Professionals can learn to recognise the auditory phenomena which are characteristic of a certain type of land use. Acoustic sources are obvious planning elements which can be used as a starting point in the development process. The effects on the soundscape can subsequently be evaluated according to various planning options. The landscape is viewed as a space for sound sources and listeners where the sounds are ...
Urban soundscapes: a quasi-experiment in landscape architecture
Soundscapes are becoming increasingly recognised as significant for sustainable development, since they involve issues of health and quality of life. With this in mind, the present study aims to further our understanding of how urban soundscapes can be altered through design of outdoor space. The study took the form of a quasi-experiment on an urban square, involving sound screens covered with ivy to form a small arbour. Assessment was effected using a mixed-method approach that included measurements of sound pressure levels as well as self-reports from (in total) 205 visitors (198 questionnaires and 9 semi-structured interviews were used for analysis). The findings reveal that the arbour improved the soundscape. This effect was further enhanced when forest sounds were added through loudspeakers, underlining the importance of qualitative considerations. The study additionally highlights potential applications of soundscape design, by examining a number of issues encountered during the project in relation to landscape architecture.
Soundscape as a design strategy for landscape architectural praxis
Design Studies, 2013
In this paper I introduce the notion of soundscape and the terminology used by the interdisciplinary field of soundscape studies, founded by composer and activist R. Murray Schafer in the late 1960s. Using the example of 3 recent landscape architecture design studios taught at RMIT University, Melbourne Australia, I examine important theoretical concepts of soundscape studies and how these concepts were used to guide a number of design exercises and design projects of the studios. I also further reflect on the pedagogical aspects of teaching soundscape to design students and the larger implications of such methodologies for the field of design in the built environment.
2014
The overall aim of this Research is to develop tools to facilitate the inclusion of environmental sounds in landscape planning and design. This paper presents the development of a psychoacoustical evaluation method suitable for field observation. An interview manual concerning sounds and their implications have been developed. Interviews are supplemented with questionnaires treating both the test subjects’ comments, and sound sources contributing to the sonic environment. The comments as well as the sites visited may thus together constitute components in planning and design terminology. The method will be developed further through a study of a select group of individuals, with different listening views. 1 INTRODUCTION Landscape architecture and planning are guided almost exclusively by a visual thinking. The tools of architecture have traditionally been the pen and the drawing, both of which appeal to the sense of sight. The human species, however, should always − as most other ani...
Innovative Technologies in Urban Mapping, 2014
The complexity of human spatial experience is often taken for granted. According to Gibson, we perceive the world in a dynamic way (Gibson, 1979), thus, due to the phenomenon of movement, perception is not static. Moreover perception itself involves a variety of senses: hearing, touch, smell, taste, sight, the kinaesthetic system (the ability to perceive and coordinate movement) and the vestibular system (the sense of balance). It is clear that pictures do not provide a multi-sensory experience (no smell, no sound, no humidity). Nevertheless, one must say that most of human perception is based on visual information processing, through sight. At the same time, the language of planners, designers and engineers is a form of abstraction, made of images and means of spatial visualization (such as maps) that must convey information and sometimes generate emotions. This paper provides an overview and outlook of research demonstrating the potential for using multisensory experience for the design, evaluation and assessment of landscape, facilitated by environmental simulation. Conventionally depicted visually, landscape is experienced as a multisensory phenomenon. Research has demonstrated that while visually dominated, all perception is multisensory. The most promising sensory modalities to investigate in combination are sound and vision. Simulation hardware, tools and techniques have reached the point where combining 3D landscape models and acoustic stimuli is achievable and affordable, with the potential to contribute significantly to the future of the planning and design process.
Ten questions on the soundscapes of the built environment
Building and Environment, 2016
Soundscape research represents a paradigm shift from noise control policies towards a new multidisciplinary approach as it involves not only physical measurements but also the cooperation of humanity and social sciences to account for the diversity of soundscapes across countries and cultures, with more focus on how people actually experience the acoustic environments; and it considers environmental sounds as a 'resource' rather than a 'waste'. The ten questions presented in this paper range from the very basic definitions underlying the emerging soundscape 'science', to more applied topics about how to use soundscape as a design approach for the planning and management of the built environments. Although significant research activity has been conducted so far, there is still a need to systematically provide the underpinning science and practical guidance in soundscaping. Thus, the last question aims to identify the most crucial gaps in soundscape research and set the agenda for future advancements in the field.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2012
Calls are increasingly made for an urban land-use policy that takes non-vision sensory modalities into account, like hearing, but agents capable of making such changes often lack the expertise to do so. The best progress in acoustics so far has been through intentional soundscape design, which considers sound during the urban design process rather than after. Indeed, soundscape designers should understand how complicated factors interact out in-situ. Armed with this knowledge, they can take action to prevent further harm to the urban landscape. The paper establishes that soundscape researchers should be working with urban designers rather than urban planners to affect soundscape change on a multitude of urban scales, because of the nature of the task of the urban designer. A mode of interdisciplinary communication is established through three case studies that show the extent to which soundscape designers should be involved in the urban design process, specifically designing rather than advising. The article cautions that soundscape researchers can overly rely on cumulative work to generate knowledge; meanwhile, urban designers, who come from specialized fields, are entrusted to think holistically about urban problems to find a solution that is satisfying to a number of agents and are generally expected to deal with more vague matters of aesthetics.