We've had a wonderful summer of activity and planning for 2014-15. In late May we hosted an international symposium at Queen's that attracted a large and diverse group of attendees -- local and international architects, artists, city officials, planners, and developers. We heard fascinating presentations by 13 speakers, and there were exciting, impassioned discussions by many in the audience. A huge thanks goes to all the presenters, attendees, and everyone who volunteered to make the day a success.
In June the Vice Chancellor of Queen's University Belfast talked about Recomposing the City as an exemplar project for interdisciplinary knowledge exchange. The following is from his speech to Architecture students and staff at their end-of-year show:
"Meeting the needs of society and overcoming challenges is something that you as architects will be tasked with on an almost daily basis.
I am delighted that so many of you are already doing that, and doing it in an interdisciplinary fashion, where you are increasing the potential for innovation and sharing of knowledge.
Projects like Recomposing the City, where you are working with colleagues in sonic arts to offer new ways of interacting with urban environments and contested spaces in cities, are an example to the rest of our colleagues across the University about the potential which exists in interdisciplinary working."
Later in June we had a wonderful time at the European Sound Studies Association in Copenhagen, where we delivered a co-authored paper on sound maps and listening maps. Our presentation discussed projects by a range of sound artists, theorists and scholars, as well as our 2014 Street Society workshop with Architecture and Sonic Arts students, who created a 'listening map' of the Sailortown region in Belfast.
Following this presentation we were excited to receive an invitation to co-edit a forthcoming issue of Journal of Sonic Studies based on our international symposium. Please look out for this issue in Summer 2015.
In August we were delighted to spend a day with international students at the Summer Institute at Queen's. We talked about the potential of academic research to impact upon societies as well as ways of thinking and working.
Finally, we are planning an exciting year of activities at Queen's and beyond. This year our work will focus on local design projects in Belfast, as well as presentations in cities including Berlin and Athens. We are also pleased to host the architect and sound artist Raviv Ganchrow at Queen's in December. More on 2014-15 soon, and enjoy the rest of the summer in the city!
