SOUNDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN. TOWARDS DEFINING A METHOD

In accordance with soundscape studies, any process and method for managing the acoustic situation of the environment should consider the cultural and symbolic significance of sound, in relation with the individual and the community that perceive it. In this perspective, environmental design represents a particularly meaningful scenario to frame the topic. In fact, the reading of “environment” as a relational and cultural notion, has resulted in a multisensory interpretation of space, giving the possibility of getting rid of the mere restrictive and prescriptive approach of the last decades. The shift towards an interpretation of the regulation based on the integrated view between fruition and needs of the local population, has led to the definition of legal criteria such as the VIA – Environmental Impact Assessment or VAS – Strategic Environmental Assessment. This lays the foundation for a real multisensory project, able to face the singular relationships between our perception and the physical forms of dwelling. The inner difficulty of this perspective consists in the necessity of defining shareable methods – based on an objective interpretation of the territory – without renouncing the importance of the individual reading of space, coming from the personal disposition and sensitivity.
In this perspective, the paper will focus on some elements aiming at raising the awareness by the architect and founding a starting point for a recognizable method. On the one hand, this is produced by taking up some concepts from soundscape studies – such as the “keynote”, “sound signal” and “soundmark”, the communicational approach, the sonic effect – to define a “typological” comprehension of sound. On the other hand, the recovery of a theoretical scenario – based on notions like “atmosphere”, “multisensory”, “staging” etc. – will enable to foster within the project an idea of a “narration” of space as the basis for an implementable process.