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Sonifying Urban Rhythms: Towards the spatio-temporal composition of the urban environment

Adhitya, Sara; (2013) Sonifying Urban Rhythms: Towards the spatio-temporal composition of the urban environment. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), Università Iuav di Venezia & École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Green open access

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the composition of the urban rhythms generated by urban design and planning. It recognises the temporal limitations of the graphic urban masterplan, with its tendency of being static and singular in the composition of urban experience. Thus it proposes the integration of rhythm into the urban design and planning process, with the aim to improve the temporal quality of urban design. In order to represent these urban rhythms, as designed in the graphic masterplan, we propose their sonification. A Sonified Urban Masterplan (SUM) tool was developed, allowing the sonification of multiple layers of maps (raster or vector images) along a number of paths of interest. An urban sonic code was then developed in order to map the relevant graphic urban parameters into sound parameters. This sonification strategy was applied to the city of Paris as a case study, producing a sonified set of maps whose composition could be ‘listened’ to over time. Temporal issues concerning human movement, transport infrastructure, activity distribution, and the structuring of urban form and design elements could be represented and heard. We then investigated the potential of the SUM tool as a design and planning tool. We explored how sound could be used to inform the composition of urban form in both time and space, in order to generate the urban rhythms we may desire to experience. Thus through the integration of sonification in urban design and planning, this thesis permits the spatio-­‐temporal representation and composition of urban form. It allows urban designers and planners to compose future urban rhythms and improve the temporal quality of our urban environments. Furthermore, the potential of this tool in other fields has also be recognized, for example in music and the composition of multi-­‐layered open graphic scores.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: Sonifying Urban Rhythms: Towards the spatio-temporal composition of the urban environment
Event: Università Iuav di Venezia & École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author 2013. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Keywords: Urban design and planning, Time Geography, Soundscape Studies, Rhythmanalysis, urban rhythms, urban masterplan, graphic musical score, computer-­‐aided composition, image sonification, sound design
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10027995
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