Urban Echo
Urban Echo aims to address the challenges of sound pollution within cities. Through the mediums of urban planning, architecture, and product design this project explores how we might create more livable cities for a sustainable future and to optimize the quality of life and hearing health for those living within the complex urban environments of today. Ninety percent of New Yorkers are exposed to sounds over the EPA’s safe limit of 90 decibels. This is Estimated to be around four million New Yorkers and when expanded to other major urban areas across the United States account for about 72 million people. The NYPD reports around 1 million sound complaints a year. 37% of these are residential complaints and 37% are uncategorized most likely pedestrian, construction, or traffic noise (see Figure 1). Consistent sounds over 90 decibels degrade the stereocilia (cochlear hair cells) and consistently high decibel sound also results in higher heart rate and blood pressure.
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Episodes
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
John Roach is an educator and multi-disciplinary artist. He is a full-time faculty at the Parsons School of Design. His work combines multiple mediums and expertise to question our interactions with sound. This episode explores his multi-disciplinary collaborations, the evolution of his work, and his perspectives on urban soundscapes. This episode was recorded before the George Floyd protests and addresses the urban soundscape of COVID-19 before this significant moment in our history.
Tuesday May 19, 2020
Tuesday May 19, 2020
My guest today is Thomas Sanchez Lengeling a researcher at MIT's City Science and Opera Of The Future Labs. Thomas uses his creative coding experience and urban research to challenge how we interact with sonic experiences in cities. His research ranges from dealing with sound and mobility to creating new sensory experiences to build a sonic dialogue between two cities.
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
My guests today are Graham Dove and Marie Franchett. Graham Dove is a researcher and designer at Sounds of New York City (SONY) at NYU’s Tandon school. SONYC is a lab focused on large-scale noise monitoring. Marie Franchett is an Urban Planner working as a Principal Project Manager in the Finance and Commerce department of St. Paul Minnesota.
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
How does architecture impact urban soundscapes? This episode features Diana Erazo Garcia a master's in architecture, at the Parsons School for Design. Her thesis is focused on sound impact in urban environments. Also featured is Bill Buchen a architect and musician whose practice Sonic Architecture has been building landscapes and urban installations that encourage play and community through percussion.
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
Thursday Apr 30, 2020
Urban Echo created by Oscar Schrag is the culmination of a thesis project, at the Parsons School of Design. Urban Echo explores sound and its relationship to stress, in urban environments, through design. Urban Echo aims to address the challenges of sound pollution within cities. Through the mediums of urban planning, architecture, and product design this project explores how we might create more livable cities for a sustainable future.