Cities and Memory - remixing the world

As we leave the city of Augsburg, the river can take its space again, inviting people on its banks to enjoy some leisure time. Here the river snakes between alternating gravel banks, and a family plays with pebbles. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of...

Our arrival in Landsberg is met with four enormous steps over which the Lech flows, so loud and powerful my microphone could not handle it. I decide to record the lively sounds of a cafe in the Altstadt. Luckily, the bells start ringing, even though I wasn't expecting the kind of concert I was in for. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a riv...

 | We stopped in Epfach for lunch, and visited one of the many fish passages built around dams. It's noon, and the nearby church chimes to perfectly recreate the atmosphere of this charming village Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the Un...

After driving along a dirt road marked by a "verboten" sign - thanks Google Maps! - we reach the last true natural part of the river Lech, before it gets tamed in the more densely populated stretch preceding the Danube. From up here the view is stunning, few sun rays pierce the clouds over a meander that looks like it's never changed for hundred of years. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Fl...

Reservoirs are artificial: they only exist because there's a dam to control the flow of the river. But most of them turn out to be hosting pristine nature, especially this one, which can be only reached by foot Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Pado...

The river runs its last few kilometres, going through a stretch of forest and one more dam. This sound is the river Lech's quiet goodbye. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University of Würzburg, with support from Cities and Memory. E...

The city of Augsburg is crossed by 29 canals, which contributed to its textile industry in the 19th century. Now its lively city centre combines stunning architecture and modern lifestyle. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University...

 | As we move down the Lech valley, the river grows, collecting water from the streams it finds along its way. Under this specific bridge the water changed its tone, growing a darker timbre. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the Universit...

Without any tourists in sight, water and birds are all you can hear in the valley where the Lech gradually grows from a mountain stream to a large river. A tractor intruded into my bucolic recording, but it's a realistic representation of the strong agricultural nature of this area. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the powe...

As the mountains start to give way to the plains, the human impact gets more visible. The river goes through several Wasserkraftwerk - hydropower stations - that create reservoirs where birds find their home in a stark contrast (or cohabitation?) between artificial structures and nature. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the...

 | Looking for Ulrichsbrücke we got lost and ended up in an enormous, sci-fi looking gravel factory. This is where the gravel dug up from the river bed is processed and mostly used for construction. I walk along the river banks, and by now the gravel I treaded might be a road, or a building. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through...

Wooden bridges are a common sight in this area, where the river is still narrow enough for this type of structure. Over this one a conspiracy of ravens is interacting with some smaller, but no less fierce, birds. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Pa...

The hanging bridge is a stunning construction overarching the string of pearls. People love walking across it, and cycling too (even if it's forbidden), and their passage makes the steel cables vibrate and sound like the strings of a giant instrument. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a col...

While the first part of the river has been mostly pastoral, further down its course the water is also used for heavy industry, and this is the first we come across on our path from the source towards the Danube. It's noon, the factory siren and the church bells are beckoning workers to go home for lunch. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a...

Here the Lech creates stunning heart-shapes, only visible from high up. This is called string of pearls, and here the river takes its space and its time, slowing down. The sound is taken where the river bed is at its largest, and the water caresses the vegetation around it. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of soun...

 | On the border between Austria and Germany, a forest centre dominates the riverine landscape with its treetop walk. With this recording we're walking along the wooden trail. It's the weekend, so families are enjoying their time here. The sound at the end is the walking stick of a visually impaired visitor. Recorded by Riccardo Fumagalli. ------- Flow is a creative exploration telling the story o...

The first section of the Lech is as close as possible to the idea of an alpine paradise: ice-cold waters running through bright green meadows and dark pines, and people wearing dirndl and lederhosen walking through the quiet, sleepy towns. But the silence was deceptive. October, when we visited, felt like a moment of repose between the busy summer season and the even busier winter season. The chai...

Cities and Memory: "Through the golden evening sunshine, this local market closing down for the evening was tinged with a certain feeling of sweet melancholy, as another day winds down. Using the chimes of the bells as a rhythmic centre, locked in time with a piano part, I created this piece to evoke the mood I felt while making the recording. "And yet in the spacious ambience left between the dom...

The local market in Oldenburg, Germany closing down for the day at 6pm on a golden, sunny evening. with stalls closing up and the chatter of stallholders and locals. During the recording, the Lambertikirche bells chime the hour.  Recorded by Cities and Memory. 

I recorded this sound on the balcony at home. At the very beginning you can hear the sound of my cat named “Count”. The sky was lit up by sunset, very warm and pleasant. Recorded in Yakutask, Russia by Marina Dragan.

This recording captures a rare early-morning moment on Mt. Nokogiri in June, where multiple Grey-headed woodpeckers drum simultaneously, their distinct rhythms responding to one another and forming an emergent chorus across the forested slopes.  The mountain’s steep rock faces, softened by light drizzle and humid dawn air, shape the sound through natural reverberation, revealing how weather and to...

"Yakutsk looks like it's in the middle of nowhere so I wanted the piece to reflect a journey there. I also wanted the original recording to feel like it was a subtle part of the piece without taking over." Birdsong in Yakutask reimagined by Richard Watts. 

"The recording inspired me by setting me into a more landscape and nature sort of environment. But also being from a place which is a big city, I used synthesizers to make the second part of the track.  "There's also filter and sequencing of the birds song in the last part, to make it even more unnatural, before going back to the nature landscape again." Birdsong in Chiba, Japan reimagined by ster...

As one of the world's most famous sacred spaces, Notre Dame in Paris has a very particular effect even on the non-religious, perhaps close to Stendhal Syndrome. But it's not just about the space itself, it's about sharing that awe with thousands of other people concurrently, as an endless snaking line of people enters the space, each to have their own significant experience, whether it's of secula...

A full walkthrough of the restored Notre Dame, with the drone of thousands of tourists, the clattering of machines dispensing memorial coin tokens, and the unexpected "shhhhh!" announcements calling everyone to keep quiet in this space that is both sacred, and one of the most popular tourist spots in the world.  Recorded in Paris, France in February 2026 by Cities and Memory.