Adam E. Anderson says that there is a growing need for "a hybrid landscape architect/sound artist" to sculpt the sonic environment in public spaces.
Sound (or music, the composition of sound) has been used in built environments to try to baffle or control disruptive sounds, but Anderson argues for a greater role for sound design as a positive and proactive force in urban design:
"Our cities are rapidly growing and with it so does the production of noise pollution. Experts are greatly concerned about the possibility of universal deafness as the ultimate consequence as our cities produce untethered sound.
There is prominent research done, and being done in the recording of sonic environments that landscape architects can begin to pull from, in both built and non-built environments.
What if our landscapes could speak to us? How would our environmental relationships and connections change if our impacts received a verbal response?"
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Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
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Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)