Niches Acoustiques

Informing sound art design in a Parisian public space through soundscape simulations

WHERE

Paris, France

WHEN

2021 - ongoing

FUNDINGS

SSHRC PDF, McGill’s Graduate Mobility Award

COLLABORATORS

Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), Nadine Schütz, (((echora))), Nicolas Misdariis, Coralie Vincent, Marcelo Wanderley, City of Paris, Bruitparif, CIRMMT

TAGS

public space
sound installation
sound art
soundscape simulation
Paris

Parvis du Tribunal de Grande Instance, Paris

Parvis du Tribunal de Grande Instance, Paris

Credits: Valérian Fraisse

A sound installation will be deployed in a Parisian public space to create an appeasing and varied soundscape

A research-creation collaboration seeks to inform the composition of the sound installation by testing different prototypes through soundscape simulations based on in-situ recordings

During the planning of the field recordings.

During the planning of the field recordings.

Credits: Nicolas Misdariis

Listening session, at IRCAM’s Studio 4 listening room with Valérian Fraisse, Nicolas Misdariis and sound artist Nadine Schütz.

Listening session, at IRCAM’s Studio 4 listening room with Valérian Fraisse, Nicolas Misdariis and sound artist Nadine Schütz.

Credits: Nicolas Misdariis

ABOUT THE PROJECT

While recent studies in soundscape suggest that sound art installations can have a positive influence on public space evaluations, there is no scientific method to date to inform sound art composition in public space. Hosted partially in Paris, at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), the project is a research-creation collaboration around the permanent integration of a sound installation in the forecourt of Paris’ Judicial Courthouse: Nadine Schütz’s Niches Acoustiques. The sound installation’s goal is to create an appeasing and varied auditory foreground and to better connect the public space to its surrounding. In the first phase of the project, we are conducting a series of listening tests involving High-Order Ambisonic soundscape simulations of prototypes relying on different composition strategies, to inform the sound artist’s composition of the sound installation with space users’ feedback.

We are developing a method that can support the design of a site-specific, permanent sound art installation. This research-creation project entails an in-depth collaboration between researchers and artists towards a better integration of the sound installation to its surroundings. The provided soundscape simulations are beneficial to the composition process, as they allow the artist to have a realistic model of the resulting sound environment. The controlled listening tests will yield critical information to the composer in linking compositional parameters with their effect on soundscape perception.


For details, please contact: Valérian Fraisse, Catherine Guastavino

LINKS

For media coverage on the project, check these links:

For the academic output, consult these publications and links:

Fraisse, V., Nicolas, E., Schütz, N., Ribeiro, C., & Misdariis, N. (2022). Évaluer l’impact d’installations sonores sur la perception du paysage sonore urbain: Cas d’étude d’une place publique parisienne. 16e Congrès Français d’Acoustique, Marseille, Paris.

Fraisse, V., Schütz, N., Wanderley, M., Guastavino, C., & Misdariis, N. (2022). Informing sound art design in public space through soundscape simulation. Proceedings of INTERNOISE, Glasgow, UK.

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