engleski

Connecting Urban Open Spaces Through Soundscape Design - A Case Report on Melbourne

This paper is based on the part of the ongoing PhD research project, focused on the urban planning aspects of the soundscape design for urban open spaces. Urban open spaces are places of social interaction which contribute directly to the quality of life of urban inhabitants. Soundscapes are commonly attributed as a culturally significant factor in defining the spirit of place and in perceiving space and place in general. That embeds soundscape issues within the discourse of urbanism. The soundscape-conscious approach to urban planning covers noise reduction and noise mitigation, preservation and enhancement of desirable sounds and the possible introduction of new sounds and / or activities which generate new desirable sounds. The focus of this paper are the factors regarding the latter. The city of Melbourne, Australia, is characterized by unusually large number of well documented soundscape design and public sound art projects dating from the 1990s and 2000s. Recognized urban open spaces are further analyzed in order to determine key factors inter wining urban planning, environmental acoustics and public art. Urban open spaces in the central area of Melbourne form a network of different planned and designed sonic ambiances. It consists mostly of electroacoustic soundscape systems, several acoustic sculptures and soundmarks of different urban scales. Several of them have a strong role contributing to the national identity. Such spatial quality would be unimaginable without the corresponding city cultural politics. Therefore Melbourne stands out as a model for a rare and subtle way of building the cultural identity of a city in a state constituted as late as the beginning of the 20th century.

soundscape design ; system of urban open spaces ; national identity

nije evidentirano