Antonella Radicchi

Antonella Radicchi

Architect and Urbanist, PhD

28Lug

HUSH CITY 4 SWS2019

HUSH CITY 4 SWS2019

Samples of Everyday Quiet Areas crowdsourced worldwide with the Hush City app (Images source: Hush City Map)

DESCRIPTION

The 2019 Global Program of Hush City Soundwalks takes place in September 2019 in multiple cities worldwide to celebrate the Sound Walk Sunday 2019. Starting on September 1st 2019 and continuing during the month, 21 Hush City Soundwalks will be guided by different soundwalk leaders in multiple locations worldwide, using the Hush City app.

The Global Program of Hush City Soundwalks is coordinated by Antonella Radicchi in her role of inventor and manager of the Hush City app, and each Hush City Soundwalk is hosted and managed by the following reference persons & soundwalk leaders (in alphabetical order): Zoe Banks Gross, Chiara Bartalucci, Richard Bentley, Ana Villas Boas, Jeanine Botta, Paul Driscoll, Milena Droumeva, Sophie Gleeson, Marcos Holtz, Sarah Jones-Morris, Linda Keane, Jordan Lacey, Eric Leonardson, Elaine Moraes de Albuquerque, Eugenio Morello, Rosa Maria Alsina Pagès, Emanuele Porcinai, Antonella Radicchi, Lau Siu-Kit Eddie, Sharon Stewart, Jerònimo Vida Manzano.

See below the Global Program & Save the Dates!

Hush City Soundwalks were initiated by Antonella Radicchi in 2017, in parallel to the released of the Hush City app: they are soundwalks in which the Hush City app is exploited to map and evaluate quiet areas. After its launch on the market, Hush City has been developed within the context of not-profit soundscape and citizen science research projects aimed at mapping and evaluating everyday quiet areas. Data collected with the Hush City app is linked in real time to the Hush City Map, open access to everyone.

Our cities are becoming noisier by the hour. Only in Europe, over 125 million people are affected by noise pollution from traffic every year, and apparently, quietness is becoming a luxury available only to a few of us.

The Hush City app will help you tackle this challenge and identify, map and evaluate everyday quiet areas in your neighbourhoods. You can find places such as small, quiet spots where you can go to escape the city’s chaos, relax, read a book, play with your kids, and have a pleasant conversation. Chill out!

Celebrate with us the Sound Walk Sunday 2019 and join one of the Hush City Soundwalks!
It’s simple.

  • Have a look at the Global Program of Hush City Soundwalks
  • Pick up the Hush City Soundwalk you would like to join
  • Make sure to download Hush City app prior to the event
  • If curious, read A Pocket Guide to Soundwalking
  • Join the Hush City Soundwalk & enjoy it!
  • Share with us your experience, by using the hashtags: #SWS2019 #HushCitySoundwalks

GLOBAL PROGRAM OF HUSH CITY SOUNDWALKS

  • September, 1st 2019, Paranapiacaba, Brasil
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Ana Villas Boas, with Elaine Moraes de Albuquerque
    Meeting point & Time:  Train Station, Paranapiacaba, Santo André, São Paulo at 10 AM
    Contact details: acsvillasboas@gmail.com
  • September, 4th 2019, Bristol, UK
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Zoe Banks Gross
    Meeting point & time: Knowle West Media Centre at 12 PM
    Contact details: zoe@kwmc.org.uk
  • September, 5th 2019, Reading, UK
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Richard Bentley
    Meeting point & Time: St Mary’s Minster Church, Chain Street at 6 PM
    Contact details: bentleyr@me.com
  • September, 8th 2019, Brooklyn, NYC, USA
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Jeanine Botta
    Meeting point & time: Target Brooklyn Junction store at 1598 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn at 2 PM
    Contact details: jeanineb@bway.net
  • September, 10th 2019, Singapore
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Lau Siu-Kit Eddie
    Meeting point & time: Level 3, SDE4, 4 Architecture Drive, NUS at 3 PM
    Contact details: slau@acousticsresearch.com
  • September, 11th 2019, Chicago, USA
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Linda Keane
    Meeting point & time: Northerly Island at 2 PM
  • September, 13th 2019, Arnhem, Netherlands
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Sharon Stewart
    Meeting point & time: Willemsplein at the bus stop at 11:30 AM
    Contact details: mixesfromthefield@gmail.com
  • September, 15th 2019, Chicago, USA
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Eric Leonardson
    Meeting point & time: PO Box Collective, 6900 N. Glenwood Ave. at 10 AM
    Contact details: info@mwsae.org & event page
  • September, 17th 2019, Vancouver, Canada
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Milena Droumeva, with Stacey Copeland, Joey Zaurrini
    Meeting point & time: Tinseltown by Starbucks (outside) at 12 PM
    Contact details: mvdroume@sfu.ca
  • September, 17th 2019, Paranapiacaba, Brasil
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Ana Villas Boas, with Elaine Moraes de Albuquerque
    Meeting point & Time: at the Church’s yard “Senhor Bom Jesus” at 10 AM
    Contact details: acsvillasboas@gmail.com
  • September, 20th 2019, Milan, Italy
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Eugenio Morello & Antonella Radicchi
    Meeting point & time: viale Tibaldi 41, in front of the Municipio 5 at 10:30 AM
    Contact details: eugenio.morello@polimi.it
  • September, 23rd 2019, Granada, Spain
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Jerònimo Vida Manzano
    Meeting point & time: Jardín Botánico de la Universidad de Granada, puerta principal en calle Málaga at 11 AM
    Contact details: jvida@ugr.es
  • September, 24th 2019, Firenze, Italy
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Chiara Bartalucci & Antonella Radicchi
    Meeting point & time: at the train station of Rovezzano, Firenze, at 12 PM
  • September, 28th 2019, Melbourne, Australia 
    Reference Person & Soundwalk Leader: Jordan Lacey & Sophie Gleeson
    Meeting point & time: Corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street – in front of the 7-11 at 11 AM
    Contact details: sophie.gleeson@rmit.edu.au

YEAR

2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Global Program of Hush City Soundwalks is part of the Hush City Mobile Lab project, which has received funding from the HEAD-Genuit Foundation.
The first version of the Hush City app received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. 600209 (TU Berlin – IPODI).
The second version of the Hush City app received funding from theHEAD-Genuit Foundation.

LAUNCH THE HUSH CITY APP

LAUNCH THE HOW-TO GUIDE TO HUSH CITY SOUNDWALKS

SCARICA IL COMUNICATO STAMPA IN ITALIANO

A POCKET GUIDE TO SOUNDWALKING

7Apr

NYC INAD 2019

NYC INAD 2019

DESCRIPTION

For the celebration of the International Noise Awareness Day (INAD) 2019, public Hush City soundwalks and a day-long workshop take place in New York throughout April and May 2019.
Save the Dates!

  • April 8th 2019
    A soundwalk is guided by Antonella, with NYU Professor Tae Hong Park, Dr. Arline Bronzaft and NYU students in the Washington Square Park area to visit, evaluate and map quiet areas, using the Hush City app.
    Data collected by the participants are accessible on the Hush City Map here.
    More info on the event can be found here.
    This soundwalk is supported by the Acoustical Society of America (ASA): read more here.
  • April 24th 2019
    A day-long workshop “Noise, Quietness, and the Healthy City” is hosted at New York University (NYU) with talks, discussions, and a soundwalk in the Washington Square Park area. This workshop is aimed at addressing this gap by engaging the NYC community with expert talks and soundwalks that will provide answers to important questions about city noise, including: What exactly is noise pollution? How does noise affect urban environments, population health, and local economies? What reduction measures and strategies is NYC implementing? What are quiet urban areas and what state-of-the-art measures exist for their identification and protection? What is the “soundscape approach” to noise pollution? Why does it represent a citizen-driven paradigm shift? What are the tools and resources available to take action and contribute to protection of quiet areas in cities?
    Invited speakers include (in alphabetical order):
    – Adrian Benepe, Senior Vice-President and Director of National Programs, The Trust for Public Land
    – Arline Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board member, GrowNYC
    – Nancy Nadler, MED, MA, Deputy Executive Director, Center for Hearing and Communication
    – Tae Hong Park, Ph.D., Professor at New York University and Chief Architect of Citygram and CTO of NOISY
    – Antonella Radicchi, Ph.D., TU Berlin Soundscape Researcher, HEAD-Genuit Foundation Fellow and inventor of the Hush City app
    – Charles Shamoon, Esq., New York City Department of the Environmental Protection (DEP)
    Organizers and collaborators
    The “Noise, Quietness, and the Healthy City” workshop is organized by Antonella Radicchi, Tae Hong Park, and Arline Bronzaft and it has been made possible with the support of (in alphabetical order): Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Center for Hearing and Communication (CHC), Dayton Audio by Parts Express, GrowNYC, HEAD-Genuit Foundation, New York City Department of the Environmental Protection (DEP), New York University (NYU), NoiseGate, Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), The Quiet Coalition, The Trust for Public Land.
    Read more here.
  • May 16th 2019
    A soundwalk is guided by Antonella in the Little Italy area with the Elisabeth Street Garden community. The aim of the soundwalk is to raise awareness on the importance of accessing oases of calmness in the noisy and dense Manhattan. During the soundwalk, the group visit, evaluate and map quiet spots in the Little Italy area, using the Hush City app.
    Data collected by the participants are accessible on the Hush City Map here.
    More info on the event can be found here.

YEAR

2019

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Workshop and the three soundwalks were organised within the context of the Hush City Mobile Lab project, which has received funding from the HEAD-Genuit Foundation.
The first version of the Hush City app received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. 600209 (TU Berlin – IPODI).
The second version of the Hush City app received funding from theHEAD-Genuit Foundation.

LAUNCH THE HUSH CITY APP

A POCKET GUIDE TO SOUNDWALKING

22Giu

HUSH CITY MOBILE LAB

HUSH CITY MOBILE LAB
HCML-COVER

DESCRIPTION

The Hush City Mobile Lab’s mission is to make our cities quieter and healthier places to live in.

But, what is quietness? And how can it be defined and addressed?
In the same way that health cannot be defined as “merely the absence of disease” (WHO, 1948), the mere absence of noise is not sufficient to define quietness and ensure a good sonic environment for our physical and mental health, and social well-being.

At Hush City Mobile Lab we believe that people, like you, need to be (re)placed at the core of urban planning processes and engaged to identify, evaluate and plan everyday quiet areas in cities.
To reach this goal we apply the “open source soundscapes” methodology, combining methods and tools drawn from soundscape research and citizen science, like soundwalks and a new mobile app – the Hush City app!

The “open source soundscapes” approach was initiated in the framework of the project: “Beyond the Noise: Open Source Soundscapes” (2016-2018), and we will continue to apply and deepen the methodology through new pilots and comparative studies, like the one in progress in Granada.

The Lab’s first two-year agenda revolves around 4 key-actions:

  1. Participation. We boost and retain citizen participation by implementing new features on the Hush City app and structuring a citizen science communication campaign.
  2. Analyses. We apply the soundscape approach and psychoacoustic analyses to further explore the “everyday quiet areas” identified by people in Berlin using the Hush City app and, eventually, to define a descriptor.
  3. Policy & best practices. Dedeveloping a comparative Berlin-New York case study so as to build a framework on EU and USA policies & best practices on noise abetment and soundscape planning.
  4. Planning. Designing the “Berlin Everyday Quiet Areas Master Plan” and developing city-scale planning guidelines and regulations in Berlin.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of the Lab, methods and tools include: literature review, planning and policy document analyses, narrative interviews, soundwalks, the Hush City app, psychoacoustic analyses, and the urban acupuncture method.

We are proud to collaborate with academics, artists, practitioners, city makers, and community groups in its communication that noise has to be considered a health issue and the sonic urban environment needs to be a curated common in our society.

In the end, we expect to positivly impact different fields: science, policy, environment, economy and society at large.

YEAR

2018-on

CREDITS

Project manager: Prof. Dr. Lech Suwala (Technical University of Berlin)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Arch. Antonella Radicchi (Technical University of Berlin)
Research Assistant (May 2018 – August 2019): B.Sc.  Charlotte Weber (Technical University of Berlin)
Project Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Dietrich Henckel (Technical University of Berlin), M.A. Jörg Kaptain (Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection).

Advisory Board (in alphabetical order):

  1. Dr. Arline Bronzaft, Professor Emerita, City University of New York
  2. Prof. Dr. Elena Cogato Lanza, École Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne
  3. Prof. Dr. Marian Dörk, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
  4. Prof. Dr. Milena Droumeva, Simon Fraser University
  5. M. Ing. Michael Jäcker-Cüppers, ALD, Technical University of Berlin
  6. Prof. Dr. Muki Haklay, University College London
  7. Prof. Dr. Dirk Heinrichs, Technical University of Berlin
  8. Mo. Albert Mayr, Time Design Bureau
  9. Dr. Martin Memmel, QUERTEX
  10. Prof. Rosario Pavia, University of Pescara
  11. Prof. Dr. Brigitte Schulte-Fortkamp, Technical University of Berlin

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The project received funding from the HEAD-Genuit Foundation [P-17/08-W].
The project received the no-profit institutional support of the Berlin Senate and it will be developed in accordance with the Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection.

LAUNCH THE PROJECT’S WEBSITE
24Apr

BEYOND THE NOISE

BEYOND THE NOISE

DESCRIPTION

“The soundscape is a huge musical composition, unfolding around us ceaselessly [where] we are simultaneously its audience, its performers and its composers.” (Schafer, 1977)

Every year 125 million Europeans are affected by noise pollution from traffic, which affects our health, quality of life and well-being. Noise pollution, indeed, represents a hazard to our physical and psychological health, it results in huge costs to our society and it has dramatic impact on biodiversity. To take action against noise pollution is therefore imperative.
In 2002 the Environmental Noise Directive was released to tackle this challenge; furthermore the directive identifies the protection of quiet areas as a valid measure to reduce noise pollution. However, how to properly identify quiet areas is still an open question at the European policy level, as indicated by the European Environment Agency in 2014, who invited scholars to pursue in-depth research in this field by experimenting with mixed approaches.
Through the development of the Beyond the Noise: Open Source Soundscapes project, a novel, participatory methodology to identify, evaluate and plan “everyday quiet areas” in cities was successfully validated. This methodology combines the soundscape approach, citizen science and the implementation of a novel mobile app: the Hush City app.
In the pilot study, conducted in Berlin, methods like semi-structured interviews, group soundwalks and the use of the Hush City app were applied to allow the participants to identify and evaluate “everyday quiet areas” on the neighborhood scale. The results were collected to compile the Reuterkiez Everyday Quiet Areas Map, which was used as a basis to define planning guidelines for the protection of these areas.
Beyond the Berlin pilot study, the Hush City app has been applied in other cities worldwide, confirming the interest of the general public, academic circles and stakeholders on the issue of urban quiet areas and the replicability of the methodology. Positive impact is expected on different fields such as science, politcs, environment, economy and public health.

YEAR

2016-2018

CREDITS

Principal Investigator: Dr. Arch. Antonella Radicchi (Technical University of Berlin).
Project Supervisors: Professor Dr. Dietrich Henckel (Technical University of Berlin), M.A. Jörg Kaptain (Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection).
Acoustic Advisors: Dipl. Ing. Michael Jäcker-Cüppers (ALD, Technical University of Berlin), Dipl. Ing. Manuel Frost (Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection), Dipl. Ing. Mattia Cobianchi (Bowers & Wilkins, UK).
The pilot study was conducted in collaboration with Rabea and Dominik from the Stadtteilbüro Reuterkiez!
The project received the no-profit istitutional support of the Berlin Senate and it was developed in accordance with the Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. 600209 (TU Berlin – IPODI).
The project received the no-profit institutional support of the Berlin Senate and it will be developed in accordance with the Berlin Senate, Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection.

LAUNCH THE PROJECT’S WEBSITE