Multimodal mapping — a methodological framework

Abstract

Framed within a broader discussion of demographic marginalisation in urban regeneration projects, this paper considers how the non-visual might be understood, valued and represented through an expanded mode of site analysis that allows for a nuanced reading of demographically complex urban conditions. Drawing on detailed fieldwork in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, this paper outlines a multimodal mapping technique that spatialises and materialises emplaced and embodied knowledge. Sensory rhythms associated with occupation of space are recorded, and immersive ethnographic techniques are used to supplement the identified rhythms. The sensory data is then translated into multimodal mapping diagrams based on the concept of vertical montage where different spheres such as sound and image could be linked to be perceived together. It is a method that attempts to highlight the sociality of the senses, while looking specifically at the interplay between space, time and the social body in everyday interactions, enabling designers to grasp the existing sensorial realm, to represent it in a way that retains its complexity and to make use of this knowledge within the parameters of architectural design.