Presented by the UEDLAB for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Carlo Ratti, Song of the Cricket offers an immersive ecological and sensory experience focused on the endangered Zeuneriana marmorata, or Marbled Adriatic Bush Cricket.
Combining music, wetland sound, and ecological engineering, the project includes a living sound garden, insect enclosures for breeding, and mobile “life raft” habitats designed to support the species' conservation and public awareness. The enclosures house crickets sourced from a nearby sub-population. Once they breed, eggs and habitat materials are transferred onto the floating habitats for translocation to selected sites in the Venice Lagoon.
Developed as a Designed Experiment with research and public engagement goals, the project blends low-tech aesthetics with advanced ecological modeling. In collaboration with CSDILA, ARUP, and the UEDLAB, a predictive model was created to identify viable release sites. Since the cricket’s native habitat overlaps with the MoSE flood defence zone, the species may serve as a bioindicator of environmental health and resilience.
The exhibition features a multi-channel composition using amplified cricket song and wetland soundscapes, highlighting the insect’s role as both sentinel and singer. Created by a team of designers, researchers, engineers, and musicians from The University of Melbourne alongside Italian entomologists and partners, Song of the Cricket explores how sound, science, and spatial design can converge to reimagine large scale translocation of species and the aesthetics of experimentation.
