Jennings, P. A. and Cain, Rebecca (2009) Changing perception of a public space through its soundscape: an assessment framework. In: Design 09: Third International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, Berlin, Germany, Feb 15-17, 2009. Published in: Proceedings of Design 09: Third International Conference on Design Principles and Practices

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Sound in the environment has traditionally been considered in negative terms as both intrusive and undesirable. Much of the work on soundscapes to date has been oriented towards engineering noise control and determining which elements of a soundscape planners should aim to reduce. However, this multi-facetted issue goes much deeper than simply reducing sound levels. There are many positive aspects of a soundscape. For examples, sounds of running water, such as from fountains, are often high in level but in some cases can have a soothing quality and can effectively mask other irritating sounds. Traffic noise can be annoying, but the sound from an individual vehicle can provide positive information, a warning, to pedestrians about its presence. Listening state can also be important – the degree of positive perception of a soundscape would be different depending on whether the listener was reading a book, holding a conversation, shopping or sightseeing. In order to optimally assess the likely impact of design alternatives on the positive aspects of a soundscape, an underpinning framework is required. This is necessary to: - capture, understand and describe the elements comprising a soundscape - account for the many factors that can influence whether a soundscape is perceived as positive or not. - link any design or planning changes to the space itself to the likely effects on the perception of that space This paper introduces the framework which attempts, for the first time, to link design interventions to the likely impact on the perception of a space, accepting that the soundscape itself is an inconvenient and highly complex intermediate step. It also suggests that the approach, though developed for soundscapes, could also be applied to other subjective attributes of an environment. Research on implementation of the framework, based on the authors’ experience in the automotive industry, is covered in a separate paper to be presented at the conference.

Item Type:	Conference Item (Paper)
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > WMG (Formerly the Warwick Manufacturing Group)
Journal or Publication Title:	Proceedings of Design 09: Third International Conference on Design Principles and Practices
Publisher:	Common Ground Publishing
Date:	2009
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Conference Paper Type:	Paper
Title of Event:	Design 09: Third International Conference on Design Principles and Practices
Type of Event:	Conference
Location of Event:	Berlin, Germany
Date(s) of Event:	Feb 15-17, 2009
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/46914

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item