How does sound shape the production of space? What power does noise hold in politically contested environments? On Friday, 24 April 2026, Alfredo Thiermann (Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne) will join us for a NICA Masterclass on “Sound and the City: Power, Technology and Architecture” to explore the role of sound and noise in shaping the production of space, particularly within the politically charged atmospheres of the Cold War. Drawing on sources from architectural history, anthropology, and cultural studies, we will examine how acoustic phenomena—broadcasts, transmissions, interference, and noise—participate in the production, control, and contestation of space. Through case studies from different geopolitical contexts, the seminar will investigate how sound operates not merely as a sensory condition but as a political force: structuring territories, mediating borders, and reorganizing public and private spheres. We will also develop and discuss methodological approaches for listening critically—asking how architects, historians, and scholars might analyze the political dimensions of sound in spatial production. The seminar invites participants to reconsider space not only as a visual and material construct, but as an acoustic and contested field shaped by power, technology, and architecture.
Reading
- Fanon, Frantz. “This is the Voice of Algeria,” in A Dying Colonialism (Grove Press, 1965), 69-98.
- Larkin, Brian. “Unstable Objects: The Making of Radio in Nigeria”, in: Signal and Noise: Media, Infrastructure, and Urban Culture in Nigeria (Duke University Press, 2008), 48-72.
- Thiermann, Alfredo. “The Broadcasting House”, in: Radio-Activities: Architecture and Broadcasting in Cold-War Berlin (MIT Press, 2024), 255-303.
The PDFs can also be accessed via the shared folder here.
Credits
1 ECTS – reading preparation, attendance and active participation in the discussions
The session takes place on Friday 24 April 2026, 10.00-12.00 in room 0.16 (E-lab), Turfdraagsterpad 9, Amsterdam. For more information and registration, please contact Linda Kopitz (l.kopitz@vu.nl). Following the Masterclass, Alfredo Riesco Thiermann will also give a guest lecture as part of the ASCA Cities Seminar on “Sound Cities”.
Alfredo Thiermann is an architect and Assistant Professor for History and Theory of Architecture at the école polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne. Through his practice and theoretical research, he explores the intersection between architecture and different media, from sound installations and film scenography to single-family houses, public buildings, and large-scale infrastructures. He has taught and lectured at Harvard University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and other institutions. Alfredo’s work has been published in Harvard Design Magazine, A U, Revista ARQ, TRACE magazine, Revue matières, Potlatch, Real Review, Thresholds, Archithese, GTA Papers, and BauNetz, and has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, the Istanbul Design Biennial, gta exhibitions in Zurich, HKW in Berlin, and the Venice Art Biennale among other institutions.