Background music in the public space, the "horror vacui" of perception.

[luca silvestri]

Yesterday i was walking in  one of the main squares of Reggio Emilia: Piazza della Vittoria, and having a look at the urban rehabilitation. The square has been object of an architecture competition for redesign the fountain in front of Teatro Valli, the new pavimentation, and new benchs. The administration of the city chose a project very modern for the Italian reactionary style, in fact  the old fountain has been sostituted by a new european water game, composed by 60 little fountains related to changing illumination, some modern sculture, as well illuminated and the new benchs. The aspect that impressed me was the fact that the benchs have inside sound boosters so that in all the durance of the day music flows out from them.

In Italy the  musicin open spaces is every day more diffused, at the beginning was only out of some shops in particular in Christmas period, but now is used from pubblic administrations in occasion of festival or events and now permanently in a pubblic square.

I think is not a new phenomenon but still really curios at my eyes and hears.

 

Why the fruition of a public space have to be helped from a soundtrack? From what kind of use arrives that habit?

 

I think that the origin of the use of music as background is in stores and megastores and the effect is to relax people, turn down the level of wariness, inject confidence and let them spend some money. The music is the most of the time very relaxing, ambient music or pop music, never the 9th of Beethoven or Smoke in the Water.

But the fact that a pubblic administration could decide to put on permanently in a square the music make me think about.

 

The fruition of square without music is not enought for the public administration, the reality is not enought, its important to add something at the perception of the people, something like a television always turned on in the house, a background noise, a background presence, that dont make us feel alone in silence.

A kind of "horror vacui" of the perception, because we are so continuely cradled  by input, soft imputs of all the perception field, visual, news, acustic and so unlearned to silence and concentration that we have fear of that.

 

Moreover, the acustic background is more invasive than a visual background, the acustic perception is not selective, the people is undefended in front of a background noise or music, the only way to choose is to have earplugs or to use earphones with chosen music, or to phone to some one.

 

I think it would be intersting to study the movement and the fruition of a square in relation of different types of music or silence.

Surely there already exist a bibliogaphie about that, am intersted in your opinion, and sorry for my english.

 

 

 

 

[luca silvestri]

 audio bench

[Francine Barone]

I first noticed this phenomenon in French towns. Not with audio benches, but with mini loudspeakers attached to buildings and piping horrible holiday music in shopping precincts. At first, I thought it was a crass habit that had developed in Calais to ward off English binge-drinking bulk shoppers (not an altogether bad idea), but then I was aurally assaulted in the classier town of Epernay. Anyway, I find it really annoying and inherently disruptive to urban spaces, which are at their most appealing when filled with the usual sounds of city life. Do cities need artificial soundtracks? Who chooses what to play? I'd also be interested in sources on this subject and how it affects the movement within and uses of public space, sound and silence alongside other artifacts of urban planning.

[Francesca Clerici]

As a matter of fact, it would be quite interesting to know why an architect has decided to create an artificial environment in an open space. Singing benches are quite useless I would say ... they seem to have the goal of adding something to the empty life of people. People are so unsed to stay with themselves, to think about themselves, that a noise is needed everywhere .. you can't even walk outside in silence or at least in the real city noice. Music everywhere, in your ears while you are walking or running, in your car when you move around, now also in open spaces. I think people are so unsed to communicate and to think that they prefer to act like fishes in a ball.

What I would like to do is to sit in that square and spend an afternoon and see who sits on those benches, who are the people who like to live in artificial noice rather to communicate among themselves. Then it would be nice to sit in an open space with no artificial noice and compare the two environments. I think is the only way to see if such  sourrindings are really our future.

  

[Rachelle Annechino]

This article (pdf) might give some insight into what urban planners could be thinking..