An approach to the acoustic design of outdoor space

Abstract

This paper focuses on soundscape planning, or acoustic design, in the planning and management of open space in both urban and non-urban areas. It is based on notions, promoted over several decades, that the acoustic aspects of open space can, and should be, subject to design in the same way as are the visual dimensions. The current paradigm for the management of the outdoor acoustic environment is noise control and soundscape planning needs to adopt quite different practices from noise control with respect to acoustic criteria and measurement. The paper explores the specification of acoustic objectives for outdoor soundscapes and the translation of these objectives into acoustic criteria that are amenable to measurement and prediction as part of the design process. Such objectives, termed Proposed Acoustic Environments, focus on the information content in sounds in a particular space and, only indirectly, on characteristics such as level or loudness. Outdoor acoustic design is mostly concerned with avoiding, or achieving, the masking of one set of information in the acoustic signal with other sets of information in the same signal. These are critical methodological issues if soundscape planning is to move from being a good idea to common practice. The paper sets out the elements of a process for the acoustic design or management of outdoor space.

Ten questions on the soundscapes of the built environment

“…As soon as the current acoustic environment (and the corresponding soundscape) of a place has been characterised as discussed in Question 5, the design process can start. According to the different 'acoustic objectives' (Brown & Muhar, 2004) several design strategies might be proposed. For instance: using water features to mask unwanted sounds (as discussed in the introduction); exploiting the saliency (as discussed in Question 2) of wanted sounds (e.g., birdsong in urban parks) to provide attentional masking; exploiting nonacoustical (e.g., visual) factors to modulate perception of both wanted and unwanted sounds; controlling the characteristics of unwanted sounds to make them less noticeable.…”

“…Planning the soundscape implies planning the physical features of the environment to achieve a specific acoustic objective (Brown & Muhar, 2004) and to support the desired perceptual outcome. The planning step will thus carefully identify: the areas of listening and the users' itineraries; the sound components, both existing and new, their sources and topologies; the sonic interests; and context.…”

“…A number of paths and criteria should be followed, each using different techniques, which fall under three main broad steps (Brown & Muhar, 2004;Bento Coelho, 2015): to define the acoustic character of the place; to plan; and to design and optimize.…”

Soundscape Reproduction and Synthesis

“…There is considerable interest in using soundscape concepts to actively design the acoustic environment of a location. Brown and Muhar [11] suggested a way of deriving acoustic criteria and using them for soundscape design. Zhang and Kang [12] used an analysis of the important aspects of existing soundscapes to make suggestions for how soundscapes could be deliberately designed.…”

Proposing a Conceptual Framework to Develop the Hospital Soundscape Through Visual Communication

“…The mental product and subjectivity to soundscapes can, arguably, be of great value for designers aiming to elicit a positive reaction through sound. Indeed, soundscape planners see sound as a resource, where depletion or degradation is to be avoided (Brown and Muhar, 2004).…”