A study on soundscape for interior designs through user experience

Individuals living in urban areas gain experiences perceived by a number of senses, whether consciously or not, due to diversity of the environment. While individuals typically think that the perception of the space is perceived with the sense of sight, other senses such as hearing, touching and smelling actually provide a deeper understanding and perception of space. Urban planners and architects have been classifying and evaluating the quality of these spaces only based upon visual perception for many years. Whether it is height control, materials or colors, the sense of sight has always been prioritized over other senses by creating an attractive space. Lately, however, different studies have focused on invisible areas based upon the senses of smelling and hearing. Individuals perceive the quality of spaces with pleasant sounds and odours through invisible senses. The perception of all the senses in the space, however, is unfortunately neglected by contemporary designers. The senses of hearing, touching and smelling are indeed as effective as the sense of sight for the perception of a given space. Beyoğlu passages, for instance, have always played a dynamic and active role for the urban structures of Istanbul and thus responded to the functional needs of its residents. It is such an environment where collective memories of social activities come to life for its residents. In this qualitative analysis, different studies have been carried out to better understand the sense of belonging and how the passages are perceived based upon the sense of hearing. This study aims to examine the concept of soundscape and elaborate on the perspectives of various experts in the field on the sense of belonging to space. Keywords: Perception, Space Perception, Soundscape, Sense of Belonging