According to what the American artist Robert Smithson means by his use of the concept of entropy in the case of his analysis of the phenomenon of modern suburbs, the present discussion will explore his critique of the suburban landscape and the…
The international community takes up arms more and more frequently against loss or failure of a district or a building where the atmosphere is typical of a historical identity. As a memorial relic, the atmosphere and its urban or architectural…
This paper examines the role of expectation of two different aspects of urban ambiance (smell and sound), on people's experiences and perceptions of urban environments. It draws from two separate sensewalking studies of English cities. The first,…
This article aims at discussing the role of atmospheres in recent French urban renewal operations, mostly focused on the demolition of the "grands ensembles", large housing units built from the 50's until the end of the 60's. Along with the economic…
Contemporary Western architecture occasionally seeks help from the visual arts. This relationship, which at times can be very intense, allows for hybrids that transform our perception of architecture. The encounter between the academic disciplines in…
As an architect and urban planner, the fact of considering each major city as a potential metropolis raises several questions: some cities have a marketing and political issue; the rest require a spatial planning strategy... From which basis should…
Understanding graffiti and other non-verbal communication as a form of ambiance may open professionals to more participatory methods, deepening the quality of the city for the user. This project offers an approach for planners and designers to learn…
Visual representations and emphasis of the individual hide the complexity of the urban collective actions. Social and natural rhythms compose the immediate, intuitive expression of urban ambiences. In this artistic research project the intention is…
The sonic niche is a design tool I first conceived for the project Soundscapes Oltrarno, in its "digital" version, where we can see it realized through the application of "Spot Sounds" and the use of new digital technologies. I subsequently theorized…
Through artistic means, this research deals with the notion of 'Auditory Spatial Awareness' as initially developed by Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter in "Spaces Speak are you listening, experiencing aural architecture" published at the MIT press…
In Balzac's Human Comedy, not a man, not a place, not a landscape comes into being, into prose, without its own particular soundtrack. From the noises of everyday objects to the bustling Parisian streets, from the screams of the swine to the sigh of…
This paper presents a territorial and anthropological research that produced the film "Stagioni e salotti sul Lemene". The documentary is set in the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli and it shows the inhabitants as actors and as productors of the…
In most urban settings, the multiplicity of human voices in a constant state of acoustic irradiation is overwhelming. They define territories, in conversation, in public transportation, in the, sometimes awkward, transitions between private and…
Discourse analysis shows that transformation of the ambiance, considered dull and cold, of Montreal in the 1950s was meant by the actors of the public art world: artist, architect, sponsor and critic alike. Their writings reveal a shared agreement to…
Based on ethnographic observations and interviews in cafés in Copenhagen, and online descriptions in which users review their experience of cafés, this paper focuses on how materiality and sociality inter-relate to constitute a relaxed, pleasant…
Le 14 juillet 1953, la police ouvre le feu sur le cortège du Mouvement pour le triomphe des libertés démocratiques (MTLD) qui hésite à se disperser, place de la Nation, et dont quelques membres semblent vouloir apurer un contentieux violent qui couve…
Le drame du métro Charonne, que l'on commémore aujourd'hui cinquante ans après, rappelle que la guerre d'Algérie s'est aussi déroulée en métropole. Emmanuel Blanchard montre ici combien le contrôle des territoires d'implantation algérienne fut ainsi…
Fifty years after the end of the Algerian War of Independence, it should not be forgotten that this conflict was also played out in mainland France. Here, Emmanuel Blanchard shows the extent to which the control of territories with a strong Algerian…
En juillet 1953, la création de la brigade des agressions et violences (BAV) apparaît comme une victoire pour ceux qui, depuis la Libération, n'ont jamais admis la dissolution de la brigade nord-africaine (BNA) de la préfecture de police de Paris.…
This work is part of a doctoral research in development, whose central theme is black populations and black urban areas in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The great diversity of forms of urban occupations in terms of social, economic, spatial, cultural, and…
