Design of urban furniture to enhance the soundscape: A case study

Abstract

In modern urban scenarios, all the aspects of the historical heritage, including public open spaces and ancient buildings, have to meet the high increase of density of infrastructures and constructions, with the consequent change of visual and sound environments. This in turn affects people's quality of life. Because of the growing interest on this problem, this study investigates the relationship between soundscape and design solutions for urban furniture, considering technical and environmental feasibility of the designing process, from the materials characteristics, to the acoustic and psychoacoustic impact of the tool on the user. The process includes the acoustic suitability of three-dimensional printing materials, the suitability of acoustic design using software simulation, the experimental assessment of the performance of the three-dimensional printed prototype and the statistical evaluation of the chosen studying parameters and conditions. This article describes all the stages of the designing process, with a focus on the study of shapes and volumes of the prototype and on its impact on the user's perception. FEM simulations and experimental tests performed in a semi-anechoic chamber allowed to validate the design process. These analyses proved that the designed prototype of urban furniture can not only positively influence the physical environment but also the psychoacoustic perception of it.

Going beyond Quietness: Determining the Emotionally Restorative Effect of Acoustic Environments in Urban Open Public Spaces

“…Since the urban soundscape can promote the psychological restoration of users, it should clearly form part of planning and architectural design [47,58], incorporating specific urban furniture [49] to improve the perception of urban places. In this respect, collaboration from the initial stages of project development between those responsible for urban design and acoustics experts represents a crucial element in urban renovation processes [59].…”

“…Thus, several studies have tried to provide scientific evidence of the benefits of the “soundscape approach” for public engagement, health and well-being [45,46]. Consequently, the soundscape should be considered part of urban design [47,48], incorporating specific urban furniture [49] to improve people’s perceptions of urban places and their environmental experiences.…”

Computational investigation of various wedges electromagnetic wave absorbers on anechoic chambers

“…Literature studies conducted by many researchers state that the selection of the medium material and the shape of the wedges significantly affect the absorption performance to produce a space without echo [9,10,11]. The perfect free-reflection of sound in anechoic chamber design provides precise measurement of noise source sound power levels, this condition is also ideal for calibrating electro-acoustic measuring instruments and measuring the performance of various electroacoustic products [12,13,14]. To obtain better anechoic room performance, it is necessary to have a special study related to determining factors such as type of materials, shapes, and the effects of the distance and angle of incidence of waves.…”

Çanakkale Çarşı Caddesi Üzerinde Bulunan Kentsel Donatı Elemanlarının Kullanımının İrdelenmesi

“…Aynı zamanda oluşturulacak olan tasarımlar sürdürülebilir kullanımı desteklemeli, ergonomik ihtiyaçlara cevap verebilmelidir (Akpınar Külekçi, 2018). Kentsel donatı elemanlarının sosyal hayatın en önemli unsurlarından olan kullanıcılara hitap etmesi sebebiyle tasarım aşaması birincil dereceden önem arz etmektedir (Fusaro, D'Alessandro, Baldinelli ve Kang, 2018). Kentsel donatı elemanları işlevsel, estetik veya sembolik hangi amaçla tasarlanmış olursa olsun asıl amacı alanı geliştirme, canlandırma ve iyileştirmeye yönelik olmalıdır.…”