2023

City as Living Laboratory commissioned composer and sound artist Kamala Sankaram to develop The Buried Brook, a free, interactive augmented reality sound walk. It traces the sonic geography of the buried Tibbetts Brook, which once flowed from Yonkers through the Bronx to the Harlem River. To hear the soundwalk, experiencers walk where the brook used to flow by following the highlighted path on the map. There is also an in-app slider with a historic map overlay of what the brook used to look like. The location data from the listener’s phone will turn on the different sounds and music. Walking along the former route of the buried brook, the app invites users to turn a sensitive ear toward the past, present, and future of Tibbetts.