Sounding Objects for Societal Impact: DRS SIG Symposium on Sound Driven Design

DRS SIG Sound-driven Design has organised a two-day symposium (September 11 - 12, IRCAM, Paris) dedicated to exploring how sound can inform and transform design practices for societal good. Sound is a vital yet often overlooked dimension of our interactions with the world. It plays a key role in shaping human experiences, environmental awareness, and social cohesion. It influences human perception, urban and ecological systems, and cultural practices – yet it currently remains a gap in how sound is considered and integrated.

This symposium aims to bridge that gap through a multidisciplinary research dialogue, bringing together the sound and design research communities. We will investigate how systemic approaches to sound-driven design can help address the ways in which society influences and is influenced by sound.

Focus & Themes

This research-focused event will bring together experts in design and sound to explore how systemic approaches to sound-driven design can support societal transformation, through three main thematic sessions.

Each session will feature paired lectures and dialogues from design and sound experts, followed by facilitated thematic focus groups. Outcomes from these discussions will be considered for publication in the DRS Digital Library.

Day 1

1. Design Process and Methodology

Design intermediary / boundary objects 
Jean-Francois Boujut, Institute of Engineering and Management of Grenoble INP - UGA

Sonic Boundary Objects
Florian Grond, Concordia University

2. Human-Technology Entanglement

Sonic Entanglements: Rethinking Human-Technology Relations Through Sound
Maria Luce Lupetti, Politecnico of Torino

Perspectives in Designing Movement-Sound Interaction
Frédéric Bevilacqua, IRCAM STMS Lab

Day 2

3. Societal Impact of Design

Ecologies of Making: A Question for Society
Émile De Visscher, CRD ENS Paris-Saclay Ensci Les Ateliers

Lecture 3S - Sonic possibility and habitability
Salomé Voegelin, London College of Communication, University of the Arts

4. Synthesis of interactive workshops and presentations

More info and registration via the link below:

https://www.ircam.fr/agenda/symposium-on-sound-driven-design/detail

Contacts for Inquiries: stefano.dellemonache@ircam.fr, nicolas.misdariis@ircam.fr 

Sound Perception and Design Group, IRCAM STMS Lab (S. Delle Monache, N. Misdariis)
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology (E. Özcan)
DRS Special Interest Group on Sound-Driven Design (S. Delle Monache, D. Hug, S. Lenzi, N. Misdariis, E. Özcan, S. Pauletto, D. Rocchesso, S. Spagnol)