A Birdhouse Story
Birds have an uncanny way of co-opting the infrastructures of our houses into a habitat for themselves. We are often surprised—sometimes delighted—to find them nesting under the eaves, outside the window, or even inside the chimney. But maybe that should be unsurprising: after all, we fashion our homes from the materials of theirs, and our cities have converted the grounds of their habitat into our own. Yet, they seem undeterred, unwilling to be pushed out by these forces.
Even within the dense urbanism of New York City, various species of birds have found sanctuaries within the pockets of parks and buildings. This intimate confrontation of the habitats of humans and birds has precipitated another development—the emergence of a group of people deeply fascinated with observing birds. Birders, as they refer to themselves, spend time outdoors searching for rare species, or alternatively, attracting birds to their own place of residence by constructing miniature habitats often in the image of a human habitat. Over time, even a set of construction standards have developed and are shared by organizations like the Audubon Bird Society, to ensure best practices for the select avian clientele they’re building for. It is within this curious context that we were approached by Vilcek Foundation to design a birdhouse for a Manhattan rooftop.
