THE SONOTOPIA AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM

Abstract

This article explores the possibility of understanding sound space as a producer of urban space. It is desired to test, disseminate and update the term sonotopia, previously exposed in the book "Sonotopía, la producción del espacio sonoro", in order to strengthen sonotopology as an epistemological resource of complexity for understanding the urban space. The sound place or sonotopia implies a recognition of utopian thought, always present in the history of cities. The notions of sound, place and utopia converge in a territory whose morphology has been constituted throughout the course of history based on a primarily visual and functional aesthetic. The aim here is to expand these readings, incorporating the aesthetic quality of listening, through new aspects about the notions of place and utopia that deserve to be incorporated into the sonotopological study. Part of the field work previously carried out in the Plaza de Santo Domingo in Mexico City, is presented here to link sound, with the notions of place and utopia. Inquiring about the
sound space of this square, reveals morphological and perceptual components, and other dimensions of public space emerging from the acoustic character of places, which enhances the understanding of sonotopia as a complex system.