Tag: urban

Soundwalk in the Pullman Historic District

You’re invited to come to a soundwalk at the Pullman National Monument during the Tenth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival and Chicago Artists Month. This event is co-presented by the Pullman National Monument, Outdoor Afro, Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology and Borderbend Arts Collective. It is also co-sponsored by Pullman Historic Site.

Report: World Listening Day 2015 Soundwalk at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Report, photos, and audio by Christopher Preissing On Saturday, July 18 (World Listening Day 2015), Dan Godston led a soundwalk at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Miller Trail. In spite of predictions for extremely hot and humid temperatures, nine hearty listeners braved the heat on what 

Positive Sound Design in Urban Soundscapes – Chicago Tribune

This week, Chicago Tribune Architecture Critic, Blair Kamin and I had a good chat about the positive role of sound in the design and experience of urban spaces. While noise problems at O’Hare Airport and Wrigley Field gain attention, we focused ways that sound reduces stress and enhance. Instead of the negative role, I mentioned specific examples of places in Chicago where I, and other MSAE members, have led soundwalks within Millennium Park.

Blair Kamin wrote, ”Sound can alleviate, as well as accentuate, stress. It can delight us as well as drive us crazy. Sound should be a part of the recipe for cooking up great cities. Yet concocting that recipe is as much art as science.”

Read Kamin’s article “Soundscape of the city is about more than decibels.”

Lurie Garden in Millennium Park
The Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park has hedges that block street noise and allow for sounds of nature to be heard inside it. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)