This paper presents a comparison between the acoustic scenario at the Rio de Janeiro city center, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Undergoing one of the most important pandemics of the recent history, the social isolation led to a new acoustic scenario for Rio de Janeiro. The study was realized at the city center, an area of historical, economic and cultural relevance. The comparison consisted of analyzing measured data and noise maps produced for the city center area. The maps were created according to measured and collected data of the respective time periods. The acoustic scenario prior to the pandemic time was reconstructed based on previous measurements and data collection, while the pandemic one was built with data survey during the highest social isolation index on July 2020. The comparative analysis showed a considerable noise reduction, between 10 and 15 dB, for areas where the traffic noise was not intense and where the human activities were predominant on the streets. However, there was no substantial noise decrease for the areas around the major avenues. This occurred due to the traffic intensity drop to 50% during the pandemic, which meant a noise reduction between 3 and 5 dB.

Um dos maiores problemas ambientais nos grandes centros urbanos está relacionado à poluição sonora e suas consequências para a qualidade dos espaços livres, dos edifícios, como também os efeitos nocivos para a saúde do homem. O mapa de ruído é uma importante ferramenta de planejamento urbano para o estudo, diagnóstico e controle do ruído ambiental. A Europa se coloca na vanguarda com a Diretiva 2002/49/CE relativa à avaliação e gestão do ruído ambiente. No Brasil ainda não existe uma lei nacional que regulamente o mapeamento de ruído. Porém existem pesquisas que estão sendo realizadas nesse sentido. O presente trabalho apresenta o estado da arte dessa metodologia e expõe o desdobramento das pesquisas e produção técnica relacionadas ao mapeamento sonoro no Brasil, com destaque para os trabalhos acadêmicos realizados no Rio de Janeiro pelo Grupo de Pesquisa Projeto, Arquitetura e Sustentabilidade – GPAS / PROARQ / UFRJ. É relevante destacar que a pesquisa de mapa de ruído vem evoluindo no Brasil, e é importante que essa metodologia se expanda do âmbito acadêmico e faça cada vez mais parte da gestão e do planejamento urbano das cidades.

No abstract

The Music School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is located in a heritage-listed building, due to the historical and architectural relevance. Acoustic problems were related to the musicians in the orchestra rehearsal room, such as high reverberation time on certain frequencies and insufficient insulation. The aim of this paper is to analyse the space of the rehearsal room through measurements and to propose corrections through simulations using BRASS (Brazilian Room Acoustic Simulator), a software designed by the Polytechnic School of UFRJ, to achieve acoustic adequacy. The methods used are measurements of mono and binaural impulsive responses in various positions, computational modeling, simulation verification by comparison with acoustic parameters (T60, EDT, CT, C80, D50, etc), and proposition of architectural corrections and improvements in the room with subjective evaluation by auralization for the musicians. The results show the importance of the acoustic simulation method in the design process of music rehearsal rooms, in order to obtain efficient solutions for the use, besides being able to reproduce the room´s sound with auralization, and respecting its original architectonical characteristics.