Sense of Sound

 This week I had to explore how another sense could be used as a tool for place making, the sense of sound. The sounds I documented were at Federation Square during an open cinema day.

 

The diagram above shows the main areas where sounds would project. The number of rings on each space shows the magnitude or the loudness of the sounds in that particular area. These main areas were the TV screen, the trams, the cafe and restaurants, and the chattering of people.

 The next diagram unpacks the types of sounds that exist within a particular space, a seating area next to Flinders and Swanston Streets.

The third diagram shows the wavelengths, speed, and consistency of the sounds. Here, I have documented the sounds of a tram, the TV screen, and the chattering of people.

 

The fourth diagram recorded the speed of the sound of the pedestrian crossing.

 

My last diagram was about documenting the sounds within the interior of the Federation Square exhibition space. The sound that stood out to me the most was the sound of footsteps, and so I decided to document the sound of footsteps in this sketch. My findings show that the footsteps on the ground sound more quiet and there is less of a "thump" compared to when there are footsteps on the stairs. The model I have made this week represents the concept of this final diagram.

 This week the model was made from plaster. Here, I am trying to show that the footsteps higher up on the stairs are louder and have more power compared to the more faint footstep on the ground floor. I tried to convey this idea by making a bigger and taller footstep on the stairs and a shorter and smaller footstep on the ground.