The Sonic Urbanism publications began as a series of conversations in late 2018, as Theatrum Mundi was developing their nascent conference series titled Crafting A Sonic Urbanism. Already keen followers of Theatrum Mundi’s work, the &beyond collective were invited to conceive a way of sharing the conference presentations that was an accessible, inviting and affordable alternative to orthodox academic publishing.
Three years later, in 2021, this is now a trilogy that can be read, held and heard as a unified body of work. Where the handsome turquoise-bound Sonic Urbanism, the first volume, laid out the intellectual framework of the series, as well as the design and editorial approaches, the subsequent two volumes have dug deeper into vital contemporary themes in sound and cities: the hot pink second volume reverberated with politicised human voices and, as you will discover, this sharp mustard edition buzzes with non-human noises; those of pigeons and parakeets, power stations and pipes.
The thematic development, expounded in Theatrum Mundi director John Bingham-Hall’s conclusion to this volume, was mirrored by an evolution in the format of the Sonic Urbanism trilogy. The first, a simple print edition, was followed by a progression into digital and print for the second edition, allowing for voices and other sounds from cities worldwide to be heard by readers through audio essays and compositions published alongside the texts on the Theatrum Mundi website. In this edition, we are excited to go one step further with a collection of instructional scores – guided listening activities for readers – composed by the Listening With collective and spread across the book. The scores, which can be found at the conclusion of each text, invite readers to engage in a variety of embodied deep listening practices.
It is our hope that this multi-faceted approach to publishing, reading and listening has reflected the intellectual curiosity of Theatrum Mundi and the exceptional contributors they have gathered for the Sonic Urbanism conferences over the last three years. Through this period, it has been a real pleasure to engage in an open-minded and supportive collaboration with Theatrum Mundi. Their openness to experimentation in the translation/transcription of sonic space into digital and printed space has made our journey through the sounds of the city together an amazing learning experience that has opened our minds, eyes and ears as we hope it will yours.
&beyond collective
Athens, Berlin, Porto and London, 2021