Marletta L., Evola G., Sicurella F.

Every place has its own sound. Unfortunately the noise produced by human activities may cover these sounds and consequently destroy its identity. The present work aims to characterise the acoustical environment of one of the most famous historical squares in Catania (Sicily) where sound-marks and traffic noise live together. By means of an extensive measurement campaign it was possible to characterise each source, to understand which is the relative weight of each sound component in order to emphasize or control them. As a result, a map containing the areas of influence of each noise source was produced, supported by interviews to citizens living the square. This allows the definition of a strategy to improve the quality of sound perception in the square. The proposed method might be extended to other squares containing sounds to be preserved.