Representation of urban space by soundscapes through sound collages and sound postcards

This thesis study which includes an integration of architecture discipline with the term soundscape that means the sum of all the sounds which can be heard via human ear in a sonic environment; presents an argument that sounds we hear in urban space can be a representation form through informations that they give, images that they recall, ideas in mind that they evoke, spatial meanings and contexts that they express and state. The fact that existing architectural representations give limited information -sometimes no information- about the sonic reality of urban spaces that they represent, constitutes the causality and the starting point of the study. The thesis which commences by broadening and discussing the term soundscape in the context of architecture and urban space, evaluates the relationship between sound and space in different spatial scales by examining soundscape on the basis of spatiality. This study which brings its attempt of evaluating soundscape through these different spatial scales into the focus of urban space, proceeds with a flow that explains the relationality between urban spaces and sound; and with a flow of classifications of sounds which can be heard in urban spaces. It discusses how sounds are classified as different forms in the context of spatial, psychoacoustic, semantic and cultural attitudes; and expresses the character that sound obtains spatially through visual representations. The study which continues with an evaluation of the meanings and relationships of the term representation and how the term representation took shape in the architecture realm as "architectural representation", investigates architectural representations with the relationship of sound and space. To evaluate architectural representations and soundscape together, architectural representations are investigated through the positions that sounds can get in the urban realm like subjectivity and objectivity, limitedness, temporality, reproducibility. These positions are widened theoretically and explained with visual representations. The study which focuses the attempt of giving information among the range of roles of architectural representation like designing, thinking and informing; evaluates the potential of representation of soundscapes from this attempt of giving information like urban information, urban reading and analysis, urban perception and experience. The aim of producing auditory representations of this study is discussed in detail, after the evaluation of the terms representation and soundscape. The methodology of the thesis is structured by recording sounds through soundwalks and mapping the recorded sounds with their contextual informations like locations, temporalities, densities and variations. In the direction of this methodology -on account of the fact that they have specific and characteristic sound elements- as a soundscape of urban space and as a soundscape of urban-rural space Beyoğlu-Taksim and Adalar-Büyükada are chosen for the scope of this study. With a soundwalk route in Büyükada which contains both built environment and natural areas, specific sounds are gathered that can be considered as soundmarks and they are shown on its sound mapping. Again, with a soundwalk route in Taksim, main axes are chosen in order to access specific sounds and also achieve more sounds. Sounds from all these two urban spaces are categorized and variations of same sounds alined one after another so as to examine them together. The sound elements from Büyükada's soundscape and Taksim's soundscape are given separately with their visual spectogram representations in order to both make them visible and representing them with frequency and time. These sound recordings also includes QR codes and listening links in order to listen to them either of two ways. By choosing two different urban spaces, difference of soundscapes and their representativeness are evaluated. This phase which expresses auditory-spatial dimension of urban space with the act of walking and with the method of mapping, also approaches the concept of soundscape as an urban experience. Designing sound collage representations and sound postcard representations by working on sound recordings recorded from soundscapes of urban spaces with soundwalks -within the scope of theoretical background of the concepts of collage and postcard- is the conclusive productions of this study. Sound collages and sound postcards can be considered as the sonic versions of existing collages and postcards as architectural representations that have a high possibility to see. The auditory versions of visual collages namely sound collages are the productions consisting of sound elements from soundscapes which can be processed separately or together with a theoretical background that presents gathering elements in the relation of fragment-whole and with the intent of generating a narration - a representation. Here, collage becomes both the method of the design process of sound collages; and the final sonic representation itself. Sound collages have been composed in the frame of the conceptions of soundscape composition and musique concrète. Thus the sounds used in sound collages can be both pure and processed or manipulated in the frame of these conceptions. This study considers music as organized sounds with the aim of generating a narration: starting from this point of view sound collages can then be considered as a music piece. Here at this point, a musical production is also generated simultaneously with the sound elements taken for producing an architectural and urban representation. From this point of view a sound collage of Büyükada and a sound collage of Taksim are composed and they are shown with their visual multitrack representations in order to grasp sound elements in the concept of collage as fragments and whole. This attitude also shows that a new spatiality and temporality can be generated through reproductive sounds as collages. Sound postcards which are the sonic versions of postcards that have a remarkable role of representing urban character, urban identity and constructing or generating urban image in mind; can be pure collective sound recordings or basically sound collages. The main target of sonic postcards is to share auditory information of urban space in the context of representation. Sound postcards are also proposed as a representation form with the aim of informing, spreading, sharing and promoting urban space. What makes a sound or group of sounds a sound postcard is to "post" them: again in the context of giving spatial and temporal information as an architectural representation. From this statement it is discussed what can be a sound postcard in the context of representation both from Büyükada's soundscape and Taksim's soundscape. The study predicts that different sound collages and sound postcards for every different urban space can be produced as an urban representation. The thesis concludes with a foresight that in the auditory dimension sound collages and sound postcards can be a contribution to existing architectural representations and with a vision for using these auditory representations in architectural practice, in the concept of representation within a context of architecture theory, in musical productions and finally in the studies about both disciplines separately or together. In all these realms it is thought that working with different representation forms has an essential value. From this point of view, it is thought that this study can generate discussions and evalutions about designing new representations forms of urban spaces. Thus, in the scope of the study it is thought that the attempt of producing new representation forms is a gain within the context of perceiving urban space, experiencing urban space and informing about urban space.