Soundscape: The Background City

Sound is a natural phenomenon shaped by time and space. Time affects a sound's pitch while the physical or built environment surrounding the sonic event directly influences its volume, clarity and its decay. Thus, architecture and sound form an inseparable bond. Soundscape - The Background City explores various soundscapes we encounter in our lives living in urban Ottawa though space and time. How are different soundscapes visualized and mapped to distinguish themselves from one another? Can they be enhanced, orchestrated or subdued to be better understood? As this transfers through to spatial production, the emerging project asks how the awareness and manipulation of daily soundscapes can be a catalyst towards sonic discovery in Ottawa's urban core. We explore how urban soundscapes, framed by architecture, affect an individual's experience of their surroundings, built or unbuilt.