In “Sonotopia” Hörstadt showcases Bischofshof’s urban architecture as a tonal ensemble. Individual elements such as rainspouts, sewer systems, windows and domes morph into musical instruments and coalesce into an orchestra. At this workshop staged by Hörstadt’s staff, interested members of the public will be able to try their hand at conducting this orchestra and bringing forth sound artistry with these instruments. This playful exploration of the Bischofshof’s tonal qualities is an encounter with the acoustic level of our perception of space.

The second auditory stroll with Peter Androsch in conjunction with the “Sonotopia” event resembles a walk in the clouds—after all, substantively as well as spatially, this is a matter of air. To be precise: air as a sea of sound waves ricocheting among and through the cityscape’s structures. Seen from this perspective, architects and city planners are the true sound designers. Androsch imparts this impressively.

Sound Design via Architecture

Structures configure the cityscape’s sound instrument. And quite extraordinary architects have left their marks on the neighborhood surrounding the Bischofshof, especially in the 18^th century when Jakob Prandtauer, Johann Michael Prunner and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt shaped the sound of the city. In the 19^th century, amidst what they erected, Vincenz Statz inserted St. Mary’s Cathedral, a consummate space for reverberation.

On this auditory stroll, composer and Hörstadt director Peter Androsch together with the writer Günther Androsch introduces group members to the historic architectural ensemble surrounding Bischofshof as a tonal space—one that Hörstadt acoustically showcases in “Sonotopia” and a place that truly does offer eloquent testimony to historical facts & circumstances.

Fictional Characters & Historical Personages

As the fictional setting of Hans Platzgumer’s latest novel “Korridorwelt,” the spot where protagonist Julian Ogert’s childhood literally explodes. At Bischofstraße 7, the address at which the Eichmann and Schwager families were next-door neighbors as recalled in Micha Shagrir’s documentary film “Bischofstraße 7”. Or in the form of the Baroque façades that really do tell stories with pictures.

Sonotopia Installation:THU September 4-MON September 8, 2014, 11 AM - 9 PM
Bischofshof

“Sonotopia,” a featured event in The Resounding City series, is an acoustic exploration of the historic Bishop’s Residence on Herrengasse. But NOTE: “Sonotopia” doesn’t stage a production at this venue; the premises themselves are the attraction. That’s the concept of Hörstadt. Nothing is invented; the point is to pay attention to what’s already there: the city as tonal space.

Architecture Shapes Sound

This space results from human life in all its variants interacting with a real architectural situation, which has an enormous and occasionally subtle influence on a city’s acoustics. Architecture creates spaces and surfaces that form and reflect sound. This is precisely what Hörstadt, Linz’s lab for acoustics, space and society, enables the audience of “Sonotopia” to experience and become aware of.

The Hitchcock Principle

To accomplish this, Hörstadt’s Anatol Bogendorfer and Peter Androsch have recourse to a design principle used by Alfred Hitchcock. Just as the great British director’s film sets included surrealistically enlarged or scaled-down architecture and objects in order to heighten their on-screen impact, Hörstadt stylistically accentuates individual components of the urban soundscape in staging a Resounding City event.

Resounding Rainspouts

Rainspouts, sewer systems, windows and domes are boosted to musical instruments and orchestrated. Serving as the tonal foundation is the site’s own resonance and the individual acoustic bodies as well as information from the history of the Bischofshof as a place for hearing. “Sonotopia” is accompanied by auditory strolls through the surrounding neighborhood (Auditory Stroll I: Resounding History und Auditory Stroll II: Resounding City) and a workshop.