Design for quiet living: tracing the development of projects in noise-affected areas with software-based data analysis and visualization

The study is set within the Science and Technology Studies perspective, which see architecture as a product of collective action and advocate for a deeper understanding of the mutual influence of architecture process and laws. In particular, the work focus on a dwelling project in a noise-polluted area in Turin and examine how noise policies and mitigation solutions affected the process. The case-study is analyzed through qualitative analysis of interviews and documents, conducted through CAQDAS software Atlas.ti. Themes and codes are inductively derived from the collected material and organized following concepts developed by Actor-Network Theory studies. The outcomes of the analysis are firstly visualized through Atlas.ti and Node XL. However, since software-based visualization were judged insufficient for a complete understanding of the process, a second phase of the work was developed to design maps that could answer to specific questions, on the basis of the data extracted in the previous phase. The paper is therefore concluded assessing the insight that could be provided on the specific case study as well as strength and drawbacks of the analysis and visualization methodology.