Listening to Urban Space, Designing Sonic Refuge

Join Gascia Ouzounian for a talk and participatory workshop exploring how cities are transformed by sound, vibration, and atmosphere in contexts of conflict and upheaval. Drawing from her forthcoming book The Trembling City (MIT Press, Fall 2026), Ouzounian introduces the linked concepts of vibrational warfare and atmospheric occupation, showing how urban environments can act as instruments of violence: amplifying sonic shock, transmitting harmful waves through bodies, air, and buildings, and saturating everyday life with dread. Focusing on earwitness testimonies from the 51-Day War in Gaza (2014) and contemporary Beirut, the talk asks what listening can reveal about how cities are transformed under pressure—and what this means for urban practice.

Following the talk, participants will move outdoors for a counterlistening exercise in the streets surrounding the venue. Together we’ll attune to sonic residues, pressure shifts, and everyday turbulences, experimenting with techniques for noticing the inaudible, the residual, and the infrastructural. We’ll reconvene for a facilitated discussion to reflect on findings and map how counterlistening might generate new perspectives for urbanism. 

No prior knowledge is required. Participants should come ready to listen and sketch. Participants are encouraged to bring a notebook and a pen.

Facilitators:

Onur Atay, Co-Founder, Urban.koop.

Sena Karahan, PhD Candidate, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University.

Gascia Ouzounian, Associate Professor, University of Oxford.

Location: Creative Hub, C7