Working with architects from around the world, I sent them three recordings of my apartment in Berlin. Trying to sound the space, the recordings document the ambient, material and dimensional conditions of the apartment. The architects were then given the task of making a physical model of the apartment by having the sounds as their only directing information. In this way, a process of translation and interpretation unfolds, incorporating an understanding, however factual or fantastical, of the auditory into the process of rendering a spatial form.

For the audio, I made three tracks: the “ambient” audio track is a 16-minute recording of my apartment on an ordinary afternoon – I carried a microphone with me, as I allowed the sounds of the apartment to occur with very little interaction. Secondly, the “material” audio track is based on trying to give an acoustical and tactile picture of the apartment: using a metal coin, I followed the outline of the apartment, tapping on all its surfaces with the coin. Finally, I tried to give a sense of the dimensions and lay-out of the apartment through a “measure” audio track – I carried the microphone and counted my steps as I followed the outline of the apartment. Each time I came to a turn in the apartment, I started again with “number 1”.

The final models are complemented by a series of audio recordings made by different people of their homes in the city of Berlin. I imagined the recordings forming a soundtrack to the models as a way to further tease out the relation between the audible and temporal experiences of home life, as distinctly personal spaces in the city, and the coordinates of an architectural imagination.

With recordings by:
John Hopkins
Ben Owens + Sarah Halpren
Steve Rowell
Heimo Lattner
Lasse-Marc Riek
Francesco Cavaliere
Rinus van Alebeek
Jennifer Davy
BJ Nilsen + Hildur Gudnadottir
Jacob Kirkegaard

Participating architects:
Carlos Campos
Lise Laurberg
Yeoryia Manolopoulou
Jonathan Mosley + Sophie Warren
Valeria Merlini
Martina Schaaf

I hear a sound from outside the window
It enters my room
And then leaves again

Inviting participants to make physical models based on audio recordings of my apartment in Berlin, the work brings together the act of listening with the architectural imagination. Might the temporal and immaterial qualities of sound lend more flexible and experiential design to the built environment?

The models are presented as proposals for future buildings in Curitiba.

Participants:
Coletivo Interluxartelivre
Guilherme Caldas
Joana Corona e C.L.Salvaro
Liz Sandoval
Malu e João de Lara
Margit Leisner
Mário Sampaio
Paulo Chiesa e alunos do curso de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da UFPR
Roberto Arad e Rafael Lino