City as Seed: The Urban Resonance Field and the Case for Sonic Awareness in Ecological Renewal
Name
navarro-cadine-sm-dusp-2025-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
21.99 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
f94edaf955fa02bc88db939aab89d1a3
Author(s)
Navarro, Cadine
Advisor(s)
Knox-Hayes, Janelle
Makris, Nicholas
Date Issued
May 2025
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Seeds, the “abominable mystery” (Darwin, 1897), hold our past and potential future. They also hold sound. Much like cities, they are sites of growth, transformation, and resilience. This thesis draws parallels between laboratory research on the sensing capacities of seeds and embodied experiences of sensing within urban landscapes, exploring how living systems interact with sound and vibration. Through both scientific and poetic approaches, it examines how seeds respond to sonic environments and how this sensitivity can inform human engagement with acoustics in the urban context. The investigation of intangible forces, vibration, resonance, and sound reveals a shared responsiveness between seeds and cities, documented through graphs, sound spectra, and reflective narratives that bridge science and art. Focusing on sound as a strategic lens, this work brings attention to often-overlooked sensory domains, inspiring a more ecologically and socially responsive urbanism. Ultimately, it advocates for practices of deeper listening as a method to engage openly and imaginatively with human and nonhuman worlds, and to reimagine urban environments as spaces of attunement, dialogue, and co-existence.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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