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Figure 1 : Typical urban public space for soundscape studies. Alexan- derplatz, Berlin (2011)
This it is why it is of primary importance that physical noise criteria match perceptive descriptors with perception being the leading factor. As a result, we can better match the inhab- itants’ needs and desires with an implemented design scheme. For example, in the community noise field, we can correlate complaints of people living in a certain place with metrics for policy. In the architectural design field, we can create a built environment which aligns the designer’s aesthetic vision and the users’ comfort, effectiveness and sense of well-being. This process also has its parallels in the field of sound recording and musical composition. Concerning interdisciplinarity, the methods of psychology and sociology, to engineering and de- sign analyses are introduced to guarantee the combination of perceptual and physical tools for the planning of a multitude of land uses and building structures.
background
Soundscape studies have a rich tradition. The term as we
use it today was introduced by R. Murray Schafer in 1977. Since then, this idea has been the subject of much research and application. A description of the work in progress up to now was presented in Acoustics Today (Schulte-Fortkamp et al. 2007), and in special issues in Soundscape (Schulte-Fortkamp and Dubois 2006) and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (Schulte-Fortkamp and Kang 2013).
Because the soundscape field has evolved differently around the world, as well as across disciplines, there is a diversity of opinions about its definition and aims. Consequently, the
use of the term ‘soundscape’ has become idiosyncratic and ambiguous. The International Standard ISO/DIS 12913-1 (2013). aims to enable a broad international consensus on the definition of ‘soundscape,’ to provide a foundation for com- munication across disciplines and professions with an interest in soundscape (Brown, et al., 2011). The standard distin-
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