Sound-Frameworks was developed by Sven Anderson with a supervisory team led by John Bingham-Hall. The project was informed by contemporary artistic practice and sound studies as well as architecture, spatial planning, environmental acoustics and noise control engineering, and took place between 2021 and 2023 based at Theatrum Mundi in London. Founded by Richard Sennett, Theatrum Mundi is a centre for experimentation in the public culture of cities that expands the crafts of city-making through the arts. Sound-Frameworks included partnerships with Arup, UrbanIdentity, Struer Kommune, the University of Oxford Faculty of Music and the Sound Studies Lab at the University of Copenhagen.
The project's objectives were addressed through six work packages: Project Management; Surveying Sound in Practice; Developing Best Practice Guidelines; Prototyping an Open Design Framework; Communication and Dissemination; and Training and Transfer of Knowledge.
The Sound-Frameworks survey integrated perspectives from sound artists, researchers and students alongside employees from Arup, Struer Kommune, UrbanIdentity, Theatrum Mundi, Publica, Platform 78, NIRAS, The Quality of Life Foundation, JML Water Features, Heneghan Peng Architects, David Chipperfield Architects, Harman, Bang & Olufsen, The Bartlett and others. These exchanges were distilled in a database of best practice guidelines that supported the development of the Sound-Frameworks design tool.
The Sound-Frameworks design tool reveals project-specific links between ‘Core Indicators’ and ‘Custom Indicators’ to communicate about the value of sound in the public realm. Users work with preset core indicators (Value, Narrative, Legibility and Integration) and custom indicators including: Accessibility, Acoustics, Activism, Ambiance, Architecture, Atmosphere, Biodiversity, Building Codes, Climate Change, Commercial Space, Community, Conflict, Crisis, Culture, Density, Ecology, Education, Environmental Acoustics, Equity, Events, Exclusion, Gentrification, Heritage, ICTs, Inclusion, Industrial Space, Landscape, Lighting, Masterplanning, Mobility, Morphology, Music, Nature, Night-Time Use, Noise, Noise Complaints, Noise Regulations, Non-Human Life, Pedestrian Space, Personal Space, Physical Plant, Public Art, Residential Space, Resilience, Redevelopment, Safety, Shelter, Silence, Soundscape, Sports, Sprawl, Suburbs, Sustainability, Tranquillity, Transportation, Vibrance, Waste Management, Water Features, Weather, Zoning. The tool creates reports that reveal how sound can be integrated within different dimensions of urban design, planning and development.
