auditory compression – shanghai

Listen to the radio feature of the Austrian National Broadcasting Channel – in 2009, stadtmusik members Sam Auinger and Hannes Strobl were invited by the Goethe Institute to produce an audio portrait of Shanghai.
Kunstradio Shanghai ORF Radio Feature

Auditory space is open, wide and deep. Acoustic signals mark the space, become placemarks. This is facilitated through the size of the crossing and the open streetfronts of the urban architecture. When traffic gets dense, the volume increases only in the proximity, no sound compression occurs as it would occur through reflection from closed street fronts.

A major business street meets a small connection road. The area is characterized by a dense perimeter buildings. This building typology results in a compression of auditory space. Permanent sqeaking of breaks and motor noises conjur the feeling of an urban jungle …

The generous and ample design prevents compression of auditory space. It is interesting to note how all kinds of traffic, from pedestrian to buses, flows into all directions at the same time.