ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to identify new methods and instruments that can be employed for the description of the sound environment in virtual ambiances.
The intention is to investigate the role of the sensorial perceptions for defining the liveability of the open urban spaces as opposed of the "oculo-centrist" approach, thus recalibrating the attention of urban planning to a multi-sensory perception approach of the open spaces in the city, that can be considered fundamental components for the physical and psychological wellbeing of citizens. The research focuses on the role of soundscape in the urban environment, without forgetting the need to consider the constantly overlap and influences of the other sensory stimuli.
The tools presented were focused in particular for the reproduction, in a virtual environment, of the soundwalk methodology. This methodology of analysis was developed in the early 70ies and it can be considered as the preferred tool employed to investigate the auditory urban environment. Up to now soundwalking has been adapted and modified by various researchers, nevertheless its application in virtual environment is not so widely investigated. However, the possibility to re-listen a soundwalk, enriched with the visual components of the urban ambiances, into a virtual environment, provides useful tools for the actors involved in the design of the urban environment.
In fact, the need to describe the soundscapes, and therefore to identify efficient tools for this purpose, does not only regard the intent to provide a preliminary analysis of the urban ambiances and its recording, but above all the aim is to design urban spaces in which the sensory description is not considered as a consequence of an "ocular-centric" approach, but carefully evaluated in order to design quiet areas, distributed into the urban fabric, and defined by the EU directive 2002/49, necessary for the physical and psychological wellbeing of the city users. It is clear the importance that time and dynamic elements have for providing an effective outcome in order to describe the sensory urban form, and in these terms it is evident the inadequacy of the existing tools used for the representation of the urban environment.
The attention of this research is focused on two different tools: Google EarthTM and Unity3DTM that are used to develop different products compared together to highlight limits and potentialities.
Thanks to both the possibility to change the visual elements of the virtual environment, which permit to obtain several ambiances to be compared together, and the opportunity to conduct an interactive survey among the users of the simulation, the game engine technology can be worthwhile in order to provide an effective support to the research and design practices of new quiet areas, according to their quantitative and qualitative forms. PDF
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AUTHOR
Valerio Signorelli
Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana 'Fausto Curti', DAStU, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
An Architect by education, Valerio Signorelli holds a Ph.D. in Territorial Design and Goverment from the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU) at the Politecnico di Milano. He is a research scientist at the Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana ?Fausto Curti? (DAStU) since 2007. His research interest focuses on urban design, sensory urbanism and digital simulation tools. He works on the role of the various sensory stimuli (mainly auditory stimuli) for defining well-being in urban open spaces, and the employ of "game engine technology" as design, evaluation and communication tools.
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