City Symphonies
What will the future sound of traffic be? This project makes a score out of a city to create a symphony.
Listening to the sounds of London traffic doesn't sound like the sort of activity you would want to do in your spare time. That may change, however, thanks to Mark McKeague's project City Symphonies which re-conceptualises the sounds of our streets. The project aims to explore the future sound of traffic, as with the increased introduction of electric cars (which use synthesised sounds to mimic the sounds of internal combustion), anything is possible.
McKeague has designed a computer simulation which, 'explores an alternative in which the sound that the cars generate changes according to its relationship to other road users and the environment.' He re-mapped the streets of London as single lines, and through design they began to resembles bars of music: “By creating a new map it can be used as a way of looking at traffic in an abstract way and seeing the patterns that emerge. In this sense it acts like music notation--this time the city is the score”.
To his city maps he added street data from programmes such as OpenStreetMap which added cars into the simulation, moving at varying speeds. These virtual cars traverse across London's streets and through their interactions create music. Each overpass and traffic light creates a different relationship between the vehicles and a different sound.
It's an interesting glimpse at what our future might sound like. Check it out here.
Discussion