DATASONICA — Data Sonification: Turning a Building Into an Orchestra

DATASONICA is an audiovisual installation that transforms live environmental data into sound and light.
Using a network of sensors embedded within Building 59 at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in San Francisco, California, the work listens to the building’s internal and external environment — translating data like air temperature, humidity levels, solar radiation, and dew point into an evolving composition.

Through data sonification, DATASONICA transforms the raw numerical streams into frequencies, harmonics, and then movements. Each data source generates a distinct sonic behaviour: air temperature plays on a church organ, humidity shapes a double bass, solar radiation drives energy and rhythm through a violin, while dew point defines tonal decay with a glockenspiel.