Street listening: A caracterisation of the sound environment: the "qualified listening in motion" method

International audienceUrban sound environment requires an interdisciplinary approach which looks both at its physical and spatial dimensions as well as its perceptual and social dimensions. The method of « qualified listening in motion » aims, after an architectural and urban statement, to produce in situ a set of verbal accounts of perception.Starting from these first qualifications, a metrological campaign, ethnographic observations and sound recordings are carried out. The comparison of this data enable to highlight and identify specific sound indicators of the environment such as recurrent sound effects [Augoyard, Cresson, 1995]. By including perception and action of city dwellers in context, this method makes it possible to reveal the strong temporal (events, dynamics) and symbolic (meaning, emotions, discursive) characteristics of sound in the urban environment as much in its qualitative and quantitative dimensions.This method was applied in an exploratory way to two French urban sites : the Z.A.C. Vigny-Musset in Grenoble (38) and the district of the Port au Blé in Rezé (44). This method is also used in other research forms and also within the teaching of urban ambiences in the architectural education sphere. Since, it is used in other forms of researche and in the teaching of urban ambiances in architecture school. This work was performed in collaboration with Nicolas Boyer under the direction of Jean-François Augoyard