Noise design : Architectural Modelling and the Aesthetics of Urban Acoustic Spase

Sammanfattning: Noise Design takes up a structural approach to sound issuesin general and more particularly to urban acoustic space. Whilemost recent research efforts in the field adopt a defensiveattitude by seeking to protect people from sounds, this bookcelebrates our constructive and creative relations with thesound world and develops methods to manage sounds as mediatorsof qualitative information. The title is chosen to oppose thecommon meaning of noise, as?unwanted sound?, whichimplies a denial of all its immanent qualities as well as itscontexts and uses. The thesis explores the concept oftransparent and fluid space as a central principle forarchitectural conception. Urban acoustic space is seen astransient and immaterial, making public and private spaces lesspredictable, less monotonous.The thesis comprises a Prologue, which provides an overviewof the subject, and three essays: On Sound Design, On SoundEffect and On Sound Identity. The first essay derives mainlyfrom the fieldof music, and discusses the internal,morphological properties of sound as well as aspects ofperception and notation. The second and third essays originatefrom theories and methods that are developed at the CressonInstitute in Grenoble, focusing on the external properties ofsounds, mainly regarding spatial, social and perceptualcriteria. Each essay comprises a descriptive and operativesection, whereby the former emphasises the exploration andqualification of conceptual tools, while the latter examinesthe concepts in different types of models. Thus, the essays arebased upon a research-by-design methodology, revealing theclose connection between analysis and creation towards design,and including, for example, the sound art installations Tiksand Tiger, which are presented in the text body and on theattached CD.Keywords:architecture, music, aesthetics, sound art,acoustic space, sound design, sound effect, sound identity,sound morphology, graphic notation, diagram, sampling culture,acousmatics, sound-object, metabolic effect, ubiquity,synecdoche, schizophonia, gesture,listening-hearing-attending-understanding, Cresson,Jean-François Augoyard, Pascal Amphoux, Tiks, Tiger.