The Sound of Karlsruhe

Usually today, we hardly notice any sounds that surround us. Especially the city is a huge conglomeration of diverse sounds. The Sound of Karlsruhe aims at making residents aware of the unknown facets of their city again. The project deals with the acoustic identity of the fan-shaped historic centre of the city of Karlsruhe. Residents should not only regain new perspectives on the auditory diversity of their city, but also to sensitise to a more focused listening experience. The historic inner city plan serves as a basis for the concept and the design of this project. It provides a rule-based approach that is being used to shape all the individual media components of the project. To capture the city’s acoustic identity, sounds and acoustic atmospheres were translated into a piece of music that was pressed onto a vinyl record. An accompanying interactive website offers further insights into the topic. Here, users can interact with the sound track, fade in/out individual sounds and thus explore the soundscapes. A map integrated into the website enables an acoustic tour of Karlsruhe. When people visit the locations, they experience an enhanced sound experience with augmented reality. Playful discovery and immersive interactions of the different components enable an exploration of the sounds within Karlsruhe.