Soundscapes in historic urban environments—A case study

In current soundscape practice, soundscape descriptors tend to focus on present conditions, either toward an assessment of site conditions or as predictive tools for future interventions. But does the same approach work when the acoustic environment reflects the past as well, such as at historic sites? How does the complexity of a place representing both past and present inform visitors’ reactions to the soundscape? Results from a recent study at the Berlin Wall Memorial will be presented, where a guided soundwalk, informed by archival accounts of the area, was combined with a survey to scrutinize visitor impressions of the soundscape in conjunction with the site’s sonic past. Descriptors common to soundscape studies were used in semantic scales alongside new proposals aimed directly at understanding the role that historic information plays in assessments by visitors and local experts. Results from the study will be presented, showing how historic information can subvert some of our fundamental assumptions about soundscape, such as what constitutes “appropriate” or “pleasant” conditions, and how results may differ across expert groups. Indeed, this research demonstrates the powerful impact that historic context can exert on soundscape assessment, with implications for soundscape practice, heritage interpretation, and urban planning alike.