Anne van den Berg

Project Location 
Rotterdam, The Netherlands 

Topic 
Utopia New Ways of Living 

Program 
Urban planning Public Space 

The silence is within 

‘Inward’ sheds light on a new perspective on the perception of sound in the urban landscape of Rotterdam and its influence on the psychological well-being of citizens. It stresses the urgency of noise pollution; the gap between urban design and psychology; and new layers to communicate with urban design, using sound as a means of storytelling. 

This graduation thesis highlights the role of noise pollution in the everyday lives of urban dwellers. The main focus here is the urban landscape, psychological well-being, and the relationship to sound perception. Urban planners place too much emphasis on vision, with the other senses playing a limited or non-existent role. ‘Inward’ aims to decrease the gap between psychology and urban planning but also shows a different ‘image’ of the world around us, thereby giving an answer to the main question: In what way does the urban design of calm, inner soundscapes contribute to the psychological well- being of citizens, focusing on the area surrounding Rotterdam Central Station? 

Sounds play a major role in the perception of the environment we live in. It directs us to places where we enjoy staying and directs us away from places that over- or under-stimulate us. This touches on the problem of noise pollution. The growing noise pollution determines the daily life of the citizens. We are unaware of the relationship between the urban landscape and our psychological well-being; the experience of the physical environment starts in our heads. The inner city of Rotterdam is very dense and contains all kinds of activities. It is an area every citizen uses and whereby different purposes and behaviors occur. This makes it an area full of life, but also a fragile place looking at the future and its livability. As a result, citizens face difficulty in finding a place to retreat. Inward, the title of this thesis reflects a dual direction towards the inside; 1. The withdrawal of the mind in order to retreat and 2. The architectural form of inner spaces; supposing a healing territory of community within the urban scape. The research contains a translation of psychological theory into design interventions, a strategy to find balance in contrasts within the auditory landscape of Rotterdam, and an elaboration of the surroundings of Rotterdam Central Station as a new sound landscape, which particularly responds to the addition of silence. Within the existing urban configuration, courtyards and expedition streets function as the inward-oriented typology. The whisper route in Rotterdam Noord connects hidden spaces by focusing on the transition from loud to calm spaces, through a series of epiphanies. Within the city center of Rotterdam, the Lijnbaan Ensemble is redesigned as calm oasis. The court, positioned in a louder environment, seems like a forgotten island and offers opportunities for a calm escape. Together, a calm structure 32 times the size of Rotterdam Central Station arises. This has been translated back into a pattern set; a bundle of design interventions that provide tools to design with the composition between vibrance and silence and communicate with sound perception.