Most often seen from the window of a speeding car, noise barriers have been built with the intention of isolating highway traffic sound from residential areas. It is understood that this unwanted sound must be safely contained. On the leeward side of these concrete barriers are small pieces of open space. Heard from the perspective of urban acoustics these in-between zones can be considered as a form of accidental sonic preserve. A series of videos documents multiple sites across the island of Montreal and beyond. A surround microphone and camera record a small moment at each. Strung together, they become a strange tour of a carefully constructed, but largely unheard and overlooked anti-soundscape.
Part of ABC:MTL at the Centre Canadien d’Architecture
© 2019 Douglas Moffat