Acoustemological Investigation: Sound Diary #Tehran

Ali Mousavi

Acoustemological Investigation: Sound Diary #Tehran is a research-based project that is being developed as part of my ongoing Ph.D. research. This is accomplished by employing sensory methodology as a research tool for observing and analysing architecture and urban design. Art and architecture have always seemed to me to have the potential for social change and the improvement of the existing social order. They can be emancipatory, assisting in self-development, promoting social justice, and even, in small ways, changing the world we live in. As a result, artists and architects engage in activities of innovation and creativity in the hope of articulating their dreams and building a better future for the benefit of their communities. The living environment and places where people spend their time tell a story about who they are and their vision of the future. Art and architecture are social practices that are inextricably linked to the rest of social life. In this regard, this exposition is an attempt to observe, study, and analyse the process of urbanisation in Iran, specifically the housing construction in the Pardis Phase 11 suburbs of Tehran. The interest in the sensory dimension of Pardis Phase 11 serves as the starting point for this artistic practice-led research project. The project employs sensorial methodologies such as acoustemology to investigate the area and urban transformations caused by concepts such as ‘modernisation’, ‘development’, ‘progress’, and ‘globalisation’. The work evolves through a large collection of media content in the form of field recordings made at the Phase 11 site. The project’s goal is to create a discursive sensory environment in order to generate a contemplative and in-depth reflection of a barren land transformed into an urban setting.

Acoustemological Investigation

Sound Diary: #Tehran

Title: #Sound Diary 2

Location: Pardis Phase11, shopping area

Duration: 1:14

Audio channels: Mono

Time of recording: 11:35AM

Device: Zoom H2N

Sample rate: 48kHz

Spatial Analysis

These images attempt to understand the issue of power and social logic in relation to built form. I used the space syntax analysis method developed by Hillier and Hanson in their book The Social Logic of Space (2003), in which they interpret, building plans into three primary spatial syntactic structures.

Spatial analysis

A) Enfilade: linear structure

B) Network: Ringy structure

C) Fan: Branching structure

I adapted their method of space syntax analysis to uncover the socio-spatial structure. Each building plan has been colour coded to demonstrate how life is framed within this planning. These structures are designed in a linear fashion. In architecture, this type of planning and structure is referred to 'Enfilade'. Dovey describes enfilade or linear structure as a ‘string of spatial segments in sequence’ in which ‘there is no choice pathways from one segment to another’ (Dovey 2008:24). The second model is the network or ringy structure, which is the opposite of the enfilade model in that there is a connection between each section and access to different parts of the plan. The third plan is the fan or branching model, which Dovey explains 'controls access to a range of spaces from a single segment, like a corridor or hallway in practice, nearly all buildings are structured in a combination of these basic syntactic structures' (24). Although these three plans are similar, they each have a unique spatial structure that will determine different social relations. As evidenced by the works and colour-coding analysis presented here, the developers and organisers of the Pardis 11 project used the enfilade or linear structure planning in all of the tower houses. Analysing the enfilade or linear structure reveals that, in this type of planning, the degree of control in each section of the plan is greater than the other two. Dovey observes that 'the linear or fanned structure controls circulation and social interaction in certain key spaces, the degree of 'control' of a given cell is the degree to which access to other cells must pass through it' (24).