Tämänjälkeen (After this)
Oct 06, 2022, 07:24 PM
"Our composition Tämänjälkeen (After this) was inspired by the recording of Warsaw, Poland (a C40 city) during the first day of the nationwide coronavirus quarantine on March 16th 2020 near to the University's main campus; using the majority of the whole recording unchanged, we have overlayed a complimentary soundscape and designed a digital audio effect to “hear” the effects of air quality being degraded when a motor vehicle passes by, causing a soft piano sound to degrade and distort.
"What does a city that prioritises health and well-being sound like?
"These cities will focus on air quality, design for user comfort and understand the impacts to people and the environment of building and operating support systems such as transportation; complex and dense environmental traffic and the associated noise are each one of the biggest pollutants in modern cities; the risks of degraded air and sound quality may be often overlooked despite them being linked to an increased risk of ill health and sadly an early death, according to research conducted by scientists across the globe.
"It is also well known that connection to nature and natural sounds not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing, by reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension.
"With the absence of traffic noise levels in the original Warsaw, Poland recording there is an increased ability to hear nature; as on the original recording, on most days we are surrounded by a calming soundscape and a chorus of birds and tower bells, yet these are usually drowned out by the cacophony of modern life.
A city that prioritises and considers health and well-being might prioritise and plan for green and blue (water) spaces both outdoor, such as parks and green spaces, but also indoor spaces too; these spaces should protect, distance or nullify themselves from noise pollution such that local natural sounds are abundantly heard in a similar manner.
https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/noise-pollution-one-biggest-health-risks-city-life
"How can we use sound to reflect on what an equitable, healthy and climate-safe approach to wellbeing looks like for cities?
"We can use sound and sound design to produce useful mood enhancing immersive environments. For example, we introduce our piece by reintroducing the ambience and noise which the city may have sounded like just one day before; the reminder of the overbearingly unwelcome traffic noise of a densely populated city, then being immersed in complementary and positively mood-enhancing soundscape using nature and natural sounds and grounded instruments can create and enhance a positive mood.
"It is well known that connection to nature and natural sounds not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing; indeed.
Going further, into the realms of dramatically reduced sound, the New Scientist magazine recently recognises that in an increasingly noisy world, neuroscientists are discovering exactly what kinds of peace and quiet actually does for our mental and physical health.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25533990-700-the-power-of-quiet-the-mental-and-physical-health-benefits-of-silence/
"What would a truly green, resilient and equitable city sound like?
"Detrimental noise is not always heard, sometimes it can be felt and absorbed too, through physical vibrations at frequencies below those of common hearing ranges; as we already know, nature and natural sounds complimented with ambient soundscapes not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing.
"Quieter less noise polluting building and transportation systems will dramatically help in this regard, indeed many cities are planning reductions and progressing this very approach.
"As a final thought, we often see and wonder on the increasingly numerous earphone or headphone wearing commuters and what they are listening to as they escape their surrounding audible onslaught on their journeys through a modern city – and how in the future some might once again come to appreciate the ambient sounds around them instead."
Warsaw lockdown sound reimagined by Arvik Torrenssen.
Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. The project was originally presented at the C40 Cities conference in Buenos Aires in 2022. Explore Well-Being Cities in full at https://citiesandmemory.com/wellbeing-cities/
"What does a city that prioritises health and well-being sound like?
"These cities will focus on air quality, design for user comfort and understand the impacts to people and the environment of building and operating support systems such as transportation; complex and dense environmental traffic and the associated noise are each one of the biggest pollutants in modern cities; the risks of degraded air and sound quality may be often overlooked despite them being linked to an increased risk of ill health and sadly an early death, according to research conducted by scientists across the globe.
"It is also well known that connection to nature and natural sounds not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing, by reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension.
"With the absence of traffic noise levels in the original Warsaw, Poland recording there is an increased ability to hear nature; as on the original recording, on most days we are surrounded by a calming soundscape and a chorus of birds and tower bells, yet these are usually drowned out by the cacophony of modern life.
A city that prioritises and considers health and well-being might prioritise and plan for green and blue (water) spaces both outdoor, such as parks and green spaces, but also indoor spaces too; these spaces should protect, distance or nullify themselves from noise pollution such that local natural sounds are abundantly heard in a similar manner.
https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/noise-pollution-one-biggest-health-risks-city-life
"How can we use sound to reflect on what an equitable, healthy and climate-safe approach to wellbeing looks like for cities?
"We can use sound and sound design to produce useful mood enhancing immersive environments. For example, we introduce our piece by reintroducing the ambience and noise which the city may have sounded like just one day before; the reminder of the overbearingly unwelcome traffic noise of a densely populated city, then being immersed in complementary and positively mood-enhancing soundscape using nature and natural sounds and grounded instruments can create and enhance a positive mood.
"It is well known that connection to nature and natural sounds not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing; indeed.
Going further, into the realms of dramatically reduced sound, the New Scientist magazine recently recognises that in an increasingly noisy world, neuroscientists are discovering exactly what kinds of peace and quiet actually does for our mental and physical health.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25533990-700-the-power-of-quiet-the-mental-and-physical-health-benefits-of-silence/
"What would a truly green, resilient and equitable city sound like?
"Detrimental noise is not always heard, sometimes it can be felt and absorbed too, through physical vibrations at frequencies below those of common hearing ranges; as we already know, nature and natural sounds complimented with ambient soundscapes not only makes us feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to our physical wellbeing.
"Quieter less noise polluting building and transportation systems will dramatically help in this regard, indeed many cities are planning reductions and progressing this very approach.
"As a final thought, we often see and wonder on the increasingly numerous earphone or headphone wearing commuters and what they are listening to as they escape their surrounding audible onslaught on their journeys through a modern city – and how in the future some might once again come to appreciate the ambient sounds around them instead."
Warsaw lockdown sound reimagined by Arvik Torrenssen.
Part of the Well-Being Cities project, a unique collaboration between Cities and Memory and C40, a global network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. The project was originally presented at the C40 Cities conference in Buenos Aires in 2022. Explore Well-Being Cities in full at https://citiesandmemory.com/wellbeing-cities/