New Strategies for Sound in the Public Realm: Integrating a Publicly-Controlled Sound Installation in an Active City Square

The public urban sound installation Continuous Drift was integrated in Meeting House Square in Dublin, Ireland in 2015. This project evolved within the framework The Manual for Acoustic Planning and Urban Sound Design, which received the European Soundscape Award in 2014. Continuous Drift explores the potential of sound, mobile technologies, existing urban infrastructure, and shared social spaces within the city's changing public realm. The installation provides an interactive framework for different sonic atmospheres to be played back through a loudspeaker system integrated in the architectural design of a public square. It offers direct control of the system to the public, so that people can alter the sound environment around them with a simple web-based interface accessed via smartphone. Continuous Drift has expanded to include sound works created by over 30 artists from around the world, which can be triggered within the square for everyone to hear. This paper reconsiders the identity and objective of this project as it shifts into its fourth year of operation, exploring its sustained presence within the evolving social and sonic space that it occupies, and explicitly comparing it with other strategies for urban sound design, urban acoustic planning, and noise management.