This is the second in a series of virtual roundtables bringing together artists, researchers, museum practitioners, and community builders to explore how sound shapes the way people listen together.

The first session focused on listening as a social practice: why it matters, how it circulates across people and places, and how collective attention can open a common space of reflection. The second session focuses on the conditions of space, and on the design of listening environments. Where the first asked why listening matters, this one asks how environments can support it.

The conversation turns to spatial audio, technical mediation, and the relationship between physical and remote experience. We explore what a listening-centered environment actually requires: spatial design, ritual, and the forms of participation that hold attention as a shared act.

The Sound Museum project aims to create a permanent space for immersive group listening, where people gather to experience sound together. Online sessions like this one introduce the questions and practices that such a space could host onsite, and bring the conversation to a global audience.

Moderated by Joseph Becker, with Nina Emge, Chris Salter, Chris Chafe.

This event is co-hosted by Swissnex in Boston and New York, and Swissnex in San Francisco.