As we saw with Streetscape Symphony, the soundtrack of a city is holds a certain appeal to the minds of a new generation of artists and designers, leading them to creatively explore it in a variety of ways.

The latest effort comes from John Davies and consists of a 3D map that lays out Manhattan’s musical history over its neighbourhoods. Called Soundscape: The Physical Sounds of Manhattan, the map takes the shape of an original skyline whose complex edifices represent the songs’ cultural influence.

As Davies told us, the research phase of the project took five months, far longer than the production of the object itself. He looked into the history of each area, how notable figures and venues have impacted Manhattan’s neighbourhoods and the music world by nurturing a fan base at various points in the district's history. He started out by noting down song lyrics that referenced specific street names, which led him to observe how different genres started to group themselves into different areas. "Influence of the music on the surrounding culture was noted when a specific genre of music venues, bars and clubs had a distinct effect on the area. Nowadays you can visit any neighbourhood in Manhattan and you can probably go to a bar playing music of any genre. But most of those areas will always be remembered for being the epicentre of a particular genre at some point in its history,” says Davies "Lower East Side will always be remembered for its punk scene - CBGB's, The Ramones, Blondie etc. -, while Greenwich Village is home to the folk revival in the 60s.”

Soundscape comes with a bespoke record that comprises all the mapped tracks, as well as with a booklet that explains in detail Davies’s research findings. His project aims to provide the means to critically assess how we experience music. ”Taking the record out its sleeve - placing it on the turntable, watching it spin - inspecting the intricacies of the cover design while listening to the album - the focus there is entirely on the music,” says Davies. "In the modern world music has become very much a background hobby, something we listen to while doing something else. Soundscape aims to interact with the audience, and more importantly let them interact back, and hopefully, at least for half a minute, the music will receive total attention.”