SOUNDSCAPE NEW YORK: MARCH 10 — JUNE 7, 2015

A collaboration between Karen Van Lengen, FAIA, William Kenan Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia and former Dean of the University's School of Architecture, and artist James Welty, this immersive audiovisual installation combines the actual sounds of iconic New York interiors, such as Grand Central Terminal and the Seagram Building lobby, with visual animations projected on a panoramic screen. Grand Central Terminal’s soundscape, for example, features an oceanic-style animation with clangs, echoes, and quick crescendos of intensity, transporting the listener to the midst of the station’s daily bustle, and amplifying its status as a primary transportation portal to and from New York City. Visitors can also experience the soundscapes of Rockefeller Center, the New York Public Library Reading Room, and the Guggenheim Museum

NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of the City of New York announces the opening of Soundscape New York—a new immersive audio‐visual installation that enhances the experience of iconic New York City buildings, including Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center, through a combination of audio and interpretive animations projected on a screen.

“We are thrilled to have Soundscape New York on view, allowing people to experience some of the city’s quintessential places in such an innovative way,” said Susan Henshaw Jones, Ronay Menschel Director of the Museum of the City of New York. “The installation allows visitors to connect with New York in a heightened way that they wouldn’t receive by simply walking through a space.”

When visitors experience Soundscape New York—a collaboration between Karen Van Lengen, professor of architecture at the University of Virginia and former Dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, and artist James Welty—they encounter the actual sound of the space coordinated with a visual animation. For example, Grand Central Terminal’s soundscape is an oceanic-style animation and sound, such as clangs and echoes, depicting a flow of movement that amplifies the station’s status as a primary transportation portal of New York City. The other four sites included, some of New York’s most famous architectural locations, are Rockefeller Center, the New York Public Library Reading Room, Seagram Building lobby, and the Guggenheim Museum.

Soundscape New York is presented by Karen Van Lengen, FAIA, Kenan Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, who recorded and edited audio of these architectural spaces and then made hand drawings in conjunction with particular sounds. Using Van Lengen’s drawings, artist James Welty brought the project to fruition by creating the animated spatial environments and choreographing the sound figures that express various textures of the buildings.

This project is part of the Soundscape Architecture website created in 2014 with the Institutive for Advanced Technologies in the Humanities at the University of Virginia, under the direction of Professor Worthy Martin..