Color coded floorplans to illustrate the different audio zones within the units.
Domestic Soundscapes
Master’s Degree Project
2023
In a world where more people than ever live in an urban context the challenge of providing good housing is more pressing than ever before. The ongoing densification adds an extra layer to the complexity of the housing question. Sweden is no exception to this. The closer together people live the more potential for conflicts, in apartment buildings one of the more common complaints is regarding noise transference between dwellings.
Therefore, sound is closely linked to our level of comfort. Comfort can then also be linked to privacy but if your neighbors can hear you are you really in private? Freedom is another keyword that have guided the project. Freedom to do and conduct your life the way you want to. Regardless of external factors. Just because we need to answer to a multitude of outer factors when building e.g., climate change, densification and the demand for housing it is not an excuse to infringe on people’s agency. The project strives to propose an alternative method for creating an intentional domestic soundscape better suited for contemporary life.
Learning from readings of both technical and experiential nature the goal is to propose a multi-family housing scheme where the inhabitants can experience a higher level of auditorial comfort and partake in noisy activities of their liking. This becomes especially relevant since more and more people does not keep the typical “eight to five” lifestyle of the past.
Sound and noise are inescapable. We need spaces for loud and quiet activities, and we need them regardless of if we are urban apartment dwellers or not. Sound and noise are the opposite sides of the same coin. Which is which lies in the ears of the listener. Therefore, special consideration should be taken when designing dwellings, especially in multi-family housing.
You can listen to the project on Instagram at domesticsoundscapes
Studio 11: Radical Domesticities – Swedish Standards
Studio teachers: Daniel Movilla Vega (Studio coordinator), Mette Harder
Third floor floorplan with color code.
Detail of sound insulating wall.
Collage of dwelling units.
Mapping of sound in an existing staircase.
Mapping of sound in an existing staircase.
