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2017 | Buch

Agogic Maps

From Musical Phrasing to Enhancement of Urban Spaces

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This book explores the value of the musical concept of “agogics” – the modification of regular rhythm to enhance expressive potential – in understanding urban spatial configurations within the current technological context and in developing urban maps that exploit sonic signals to create an open learning framework. The book starts by discussing the meaning and significance of agogics in the musical and artistic realm, with reference to the work of Adolphe Appia, Emile-Jaques Dalcroze, and Iannis Xenakis, among others. Its relevance to cartography and mapping is then examined, taking into account the contributions of Ian McHarg, Bill Hillier, Mark Shepard, and Robin Minard. The nature and value of agogic maps, for example in fostering awareness of place and effective organization of spatial development, are described in detail, with reference to case studies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Segrate, Italy. It is explained how agogic maps take advantage of innovative categories and scripting equipment to provide a new mapping instrument for spatial and urban configurations, highlighting the interdependence between aural signals and spatial variables. This book will be of interest to architects, urbanists, and musicians with a specific interest in space and sound design.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The Imageless City. An Aural Approach to Locative Media and Informal Settlements
Abstract
How could musical knowledge constitute an asset in configuring urban spaces in the current technological context? This book tries to answer this question deepening the relationships between urban morphology, locative media, and sound design, with a special emphasis on Marshall McLuhan’s definition of the Acoustic Space, the performative ambience emanated by modern technologies. This book investigates the case study of the African capital of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania though this approach. This case study provides an example that is far enough from our conventional understanding of urban structures, a conurbation with uneven characteristics that challenges and criticizes the extent of common architectural solutions to envision the future development of the notion of metropolitan livability in a global frame.
Raffaele Pe
Chapter 2. From Territorial Surveys to Mental Mapping. The Recognition of the Anthropological Image
Abstract
In this chapter, the notion of anthropological image is applied to the understanding of the process of formation of informal settlements in prehistoric and historic sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the geographic region of Tanzania and Dar es Salaam. The concept of anthropological image emerges in this work from a semiotic reflection on Claude Levi-Strauss’ investigations regarding the constitution of social structures in native communities. Levi-Strauss’ creative and abductive approach to the construction of meaning in primary formations and his interest in rituals and their performance provides a methodology we can employ in the close readings of spatial configurations. Inhabiting units of nomadic and settled communities are analyzed in their parts and the way those parts are interconnected (Bantu, Tswanas, and Swahili). The role of musical (Muziki wa Dansi) and pictorial artistic practices (Tingatinga, batik) is also taken into account to offer a wide range of compositional systems to compare and distinguish recurring configurational practices.
Raffaele Pe
Chapter 3. Urban Samples. The Reconstruction of the Settlement Model
Abstract
The agogic map of Dar es Salaam is built upon an urban quadrant studied in its geographic and anthropological characteristics. The choice of the quadrant is influenced by the intention to work within a context of informality in proximity to other more structured parts of the city. The chosen urban sample embraces a large variety of informal settling features, and it is close to major infrastructural elements. The presence of these elements constitutes a reference for the modern development of informal enclaves, although a sustainable exchange between all parts requires a revision of the current system of accessibility and spatial orientation. Combining the elements of the anthropological image of the settlement detected in the previous chapter, with Kevin Lynch’s five urban elements of the image of the city, a mental map of the informal district is reconstructed and discussed as a possible structure for the development of an agogic map of Dar es Salaam.
Raffaele Pe
Chapter 4. Agogic Maps. A Topography of Sound Signals for Spatial Orientation and Configuration
Abstract
The concept of anthropological image, intertwined with Lynch’s fundamental elements of the image of the city are exploited in this chapter to establish an initial itinerary of locations and distances for the construction of the agogic map of Yombo Vituka. Musical notions in spectralism, psychoacoustics, and ethnomusicology all contribute here to generate a creative cognitive scenario of sound signals to foster the experimental extent of the map. Environmental, social, and spatial conditions of the place are described through a series of sounds that orientate and make these locations memorable in order to increase the accessibility and the livability of informal suburban structures. The agogic of the place is spatialized through a digital prototype (Geoscore), and its extension is outlined through a comparative table, where the sound spectrum is analyzed according to environmental, social, and time variables. The space acquires a performative scope. The project becomes a chronographic rendition of spatial transfigurations.
Raffaele Pe
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Agogic Maps
verfasst von
Raffaele Pe
Copyright-Jahr
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-48306-1
Print ISBN
978-3-319-48304-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48306-1