Constructing the World’s Largest Speakers as Skyscrapers in Urban Rome

Constructing the World’s Largest Speakers as Skyscrapers in Urban Rome

BY: DANIELLE DEL SOL | NOVEMBER - 9 - 2010

eVolo | Architecture Magazine

The Soundscape Towers, the creation of Roman architects Alessandro Di Clemente, Martina Mattiaand Carmen Pia Scarilli, are proposed for a very specific and historic location. Nestled into the dense urban fabric of the San Lorenza neighborhood of Rome will be three modern skyscrapers, and their design will not be entirely unwelcome, say the artchitects: though the neighborhood is part of the once walled-in old city, the building stock today is a mixture of history and modernity as much of the town was bombed in WWII (and subsequently rebuilt).

San Lorenza is located near the busiest train station in southern Italy and is home to the largest university campus in Europe, giving the towers a diverse array of community needs to meet. The architects studied the estimated growth rate of the region to calculate the use of the towers. Each tower has a different blend of units within: the buildings house a mixture of offices, student and family housing, commercial spaces for shops, restaurants and pubs, post offices, pharmacies, museums, theaters, a library, and relaxation areas, such as parks and sport fields. The towers are all accessible from the ground, but are also connected to one another with “sinusoidal bands.”

The towers also serve another purpose: they both absorb and dampen urban noise, and transmit is as well, as if giant speakers. The concept, say the authors, is to filter the urban noise pollution into serene sounds city dwellers wish to hear, to rework startling sirens and alarms into harmonic sound waves.

Using the ideas of energy transmission, sound wave traveling and complex geometry, Di Clemente, Mattia and Scarilli have created towers that help make urban life more peaceful for residents of the San Lorenza neighborhood both inside the buildings and out.