Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Our experience of the surrounding environment is affected by all of our senses, yet, in Landscape Architecture, by tradition, mostly the visual aspect has been the focal point. In this essay, however, the subject will be the auditory and its interaction with the visual.

From cinema, we know that one given visual environment or mood can take on many forms, depending on the present sounds accompanying it – the two components interact with each other, and together, they form a new closely connected unity. Thus, any given sound can be experienced in many different ways if the surroundings supporting it should change. In the same way, the feeling of a given environment can change, if the sound changes. This is true in cinema, as well as in outdoor spaces.

In urban environments especially, the interaction between image and sound may not be the desired one – traffic, rumbling, and other noises can destroy the overall impression that sight and sound combine to make. This is true even if the visual component, standing for itself, is pleasing. In situations like this, it can be fitting for the environment if one should add more, better suited sounds, through the use of speaker installations in different ways. With this approach, it is possible to mask and cover unwanted sounds and in the same time build a more pleasant and positive atmosphere. But how does one go about in doing this?

From other areas, experiences have been made that can be applied also in a Landscape installation. For this essay, information has been collected from different areas such as Sound art, Film sound, and Music psychology. The information has been gathered in order that it should be able to work as an introduction and starting-point for experimentation in sound installation. For this purpose, it has been adjusted and structured in such a way, that by following the essay from beginning till end, one should acquire an understanding for every necessary aspect of this area. In three parts, it is explained: What sound and music is, how one can control and work with it, and how one can apply the information in the outside sound installation.

The essay also contains a study carried out in connection with the Alnarp day in 2008, in which 20 out of approximately 60 participants filled out an inquiry. The intention was that of gaining a better understanding about general experiences and opinions towards sound installations in public. The attitudes turned out to be predominantly positive. This was true especially among those who felt that the sound and the environment contributed equally in creating the experience.

As a central part of the essay, ways in which this collaboration between sound and image can be achieved are discussed. A balance between audio and vision can be obtained by the employment of a gentle sound level and careful speaker positioning along with digital sound processing techniques, such as custom-made reverberation and equalization. To strengthen the interaction even more, it is shown how frequencies that interact with the shape and size of the outside room – roomtones, can be used, as well as sounds that make reference to materials and/or other characteristics of the specific place. In connection with this, attention is also placed on the existing sounds, and how an installation can become a part of them so that a new and more positive unit can be created. With the subtle and custom-made installation, the sound becomes a part of the urban space.

There is a saying, that a picture says more than a thousand words, but how much can a sound say… Or rather, how much can a three dimensional outside space together with a sound say?