onsite 28 :: architecture + sound
fall 2012
We have two calls here, the first for the print version of On Site:
Sometimes, sound is glue-like, syncing us up with our surroundings by offering us bits of data. Blasting sirens report emergencies, loudspeakers direct crowds in transport hubs and door chimes allow retailers to keep tabs on shoppers. But it can just as easily trigger divisions when protests against noises ranging from a nightclub’s techno beats to the drone of a wind farm eventually result in a forced closure or relocation.
In both cases, the study of sound unfolds into a larger study of our relationship with architecture, urbanism and each other. A society’s ever-changing mix of sounds casts perhaps a more up-to-date reflection than the slower pace of construction. Some may even say too up-to-date—every new noise abatement strategy is countered by an unpredictable stream of pulses, beeps and hums emitted by the latest gadgets.
But similar to the manner in which we navigate cities by shifting between map, satellite and street views overlaid with real-time data, we can also listen to (or ignore) sounds with an expanded set of tools—noise canceling headphones, infrasonic and ultrasonic sensors, acoustic fingerprinting technology, etc.—that may not only alter the sounds we hear, but also our perception of and relationship to the environment.
On Site issue 28 invites you to explore sound (past, present and future) in relationship to buildings and cities as well as its impact (good, bad and ugly) on our experience of space.
— Shannon Werle
ideas/proposals for articles only: due 1 July 2012; the deadline for final materials is August 15, 2012
Send your proposals to us using the contact form here.
the second is for a compilation of music, sound, signal and noise (note this has an earlier deadline)
On Site Review # 28 will be devoted to the theme of 'Architecture and Sound.' In addition to articles, photographs, and drawings, the journal will also incorporate a sound exhibition tentatively titled sonic/tech/tonic. Joseph Heathcott will curate the sound compilation.
Architecture and Sound have always been closely entwined through a range of modes, materials, scales, and practices. At one level, architecture experiments with and controls for sonic results. The high-buttressed walls of Gothic cathedrals amplify human song to the God-register. The barrel vaults of Romanesque chambers and the parapet seams of Andalusian palaces conduct whispered breaths to unseen ears. Clustered skyscrapers force the wind like a bellows. Carefully articulated panels dampen and direct the flow of sonic waves through concert halls. The city's buildings and bridges resonate with the febrile vibrations of innumerable signals.
At another level, sound comprises an architecture in its own right, with physical laws of constraint, materials of production, sensory registration, and spatial form. If architecture presents pre-discursively through figure and ground, sound does so through signal and noise. The visible realm of architecture is only a faster vibration of waves than sound; both can be revealed through analogue and digital technologies. Architecture projects planes and volumes beyond the envelope of the building; sound projects signals beyond the register of the human ear. Architecture encompasses a world of discourses, signs, and practices; buildings are but one instantiation of architecture. Sound is the apprehended and digested signal that emerges from the cloud of audible and inaudible noise that constantly surrounds us.
The sound project sonic/tech/tonic seeks contributions that explore the multifaceted, polymorphous, and unstable relationship between architecture and sound. Contributors are encouraged to deploy the medium of sound to examine this relationship in several modalities: sound as architecture, architecture as sound, the sounds of architecture, the architectures of sound, and so forth. Or just surprise us with something non-categorical! Contributions can be archival or newly composed, but in all cases should meditate on the intersections of architecture and sound. Contributors should send reference quality sound files with the following requirements:
— Standard lossy compression format (MP3 preferred). Ideally master recordings will be created in open standard, uncompressed formats such as WAV, and then a reference copy in MP3 can be submitted. However, recordings that originate as MP3 files are acceptable.
— Recordings should be made at sampling rate of no less than 96kbps / mono (lower rates are acceptable for voice only recordings and for poor quality archival sources). Ideally, masters will use sampling rates in excess of 128kbps (CD quality begins around 256kbps / stereo).
— If separate tracks are used, contributors should configure the reference recording as flattened interleaved stereo files, rather than multiple mono or multichannel files. Single-track submissions are acceptable.
— Content should be no shorter than 15 seconds and no longer than 10 minutes.
— MP3 files should contain metadata, but contributors must supplement the metadata with documentation in Word (.doc) format that includes: 1) contributor name, affiliation, and contact information; 2) track title, duration, and format information; 3) description of the track in no more than 150 words.
Send DVD containing sound file and documentation to: Joseph Heathcott, The New School, 66 W. 12th St., Suite 401, New York, NY 10011. For information, contact Prof. Heathcott at jheathcott@gmail.com
deadline: 1 February 2012
