THE WANDSWORTH LISTENING PROJECT
Collecting sounds and stories of Wandsworth at night, captured by local residents
Portraits of the contributors by Grace Gelder
Year
2022
Service
Research
Reports
Wandsworth at night: sounds of the borough
Client
London Borough of Wandsworth
Location
Wandsworth, London
This collection captures the sounds of people’s everyday lives in Wandsworth, providing a window into the experiences, needs and realities of residents at night. The project helped us see the borough through various lenses and better understand the various experiences people have of navigating the city at night.
The recordings, which you can access through QR codes throughout the report, invite us into people’s lives and neighbourhoods. They are visceral and enigmatic. At once deeply personal and relatable. Rather than people telling us about their lives at night, we’re invited to listen and put ourselves in their shoes.
From the sounds of running down the stairs at Clapham Junction to the anticipation of a crowd waiting in line for a gig, the recordings bring the atmosphere of the borough, in all its diversity, to life. We encourage you to listen to the recordings and reflect on your own experiences at night and to listen out to your own regular nocturnal soundscapes.
Installation by Hanna Benihoud, photographed by Tim Jobling
Why Sounds?
Our perceptions of sounds, and their impacts on our experiences, are heightened at night. Sounds at night can be divisive. Noise easily becomes nuisance. Silence quickly becomes eerie. Sounds can surprise, jolt or reassure us. They can tell us that we’re not alone or heighten our sense of isolation. They can remind us of other places or signal that we’re home. Often, they’re barely perceptible, drowned out by our thoughts or cancelled out with headphones.
The sounds of our neighbourhoods at night have become a by-word for their vibrancy, activity and life: we claim to live in quiet areas when little animates our neighbourhoods past 6pm. Sounds at night also tell us something about the 24 hour cycle of the city and the social and physical infrastructures that shape our everyday lives. From the sounds of waste collection and food deliveries to hospital waiting rooms and bus depots, our nocturnal soundscapes reveal the extensive processes, diverse workforces and complex logistics that keep our cities running.
Report spreads
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
A night time strategy for Wandsworth
Wandsworth Council is pioneering the development of one of the first night time strategies in London. The strategy looks holistically at all aspects of the borough from 6pm to 6am to develop inclusive policies to support the diversity of life in Wandsworth at night.
People’s experiences differ markedly. For some people, night time means insecurity, fear and isolation whereas others associate night time with community, faith, culture or socialising.
This project draws attention to the diversity of people’s night times. It reminds policy-makers to think of the details that make a nocturnal city something that isn’t just passed through but is felt, heard and sensed viscerally.
THE WANDSWORTH LISTENING PROJECT
Collecting sounds and stories of Wandsworth at night, captured by local residents
Portraits of the contributors by Grace Gelder
Year
2022
Service
Research
Reports
Wandsworth at night: sounds of the borough
Client
London Borough of Wandsworth
Location
Wandsworth, London
This collection captures the sounds of people’s everyday lives in Wandsworth, providing a window into the experiences, needs and realities of residents at night. The project helped us see the borough through various lenses and better understand the various experiences people have of navigating the city at night.
The recordings, which you can access through QR codes throughout the report, invite us into people’s lives and neighbourhoods. They are visceral and enigmatic. At once deeply personal and relatable. Rather than people telling us about their lives at night, we’re invited to listen and put ourselves in their shoes.
From the sounds of running down the stairs at Clapham Junction to the anticipation of a crowd waiting in line for a gig, the recordings bring the atmosphere of the borough, in all its diversity, to life. We encourage you to listen to the recordings and reflect on your own experiences at night and to listen out to your own regular nocturnal soundscapes.
Installation by Hanna Benihoud, photographed by Tim Jobling
Why Sounds?
Our perceptions of sounds, and their impacts on our experiences, are heightened at night. Sounds at night can be divisive. Noise easily becomes nuisance. Silence quickly becomes eerie. Sounds can surprise, jolt or reassure us. They can tell us that we’re not alone or heighten our sense of isolation. They can remind us of other places or signal that we’re home. Often, they’re barely perceptible, drowned out by our thoughts or cancelled out with headphones.
The sounds of our neighbourhoods at night have become a by-word for their vibrancy, activity and life: we claim to live in quiet areas when little animates our neighbourhoods past 6pm. Sounds at night also tell us something about the 24 hour cycle of the city and the social and physical infrastructures that shape our everyday lives. From the sounds of waste collection and food deliveries to hospital waiting rooms and bus depots, our nocturnal soundscapes reveal the extensive processes, diverse workforces and complex logistics that keep our cities running.
Report spreads
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
Photographic contributions from participants
A night time strategy for Wandsworth
Wandsworth Council is pioneering the development of one of the first night time strategies in London. The strategy looks holistically at all aspects of the borough from 6pm to 6am to develop inclusive policies to support the diversity of life in Wandsworth at night.
People’s experiences differ markedly. For some people, night time means insecurity, fear and isolation whereas others associate night time with community, faith, culture or socialising.
This project draws attention to the diversity of people’s night times. It reminds policy-makers to think of the details that make a nocturnal city something that isn’t just passed through but is felt, heard and sensed viscerally.