Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications

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Toward Interspecies Art and Design Prosthetic Habitat-Structures in Human-Owl Cultures

Parker, D ; Roudavski, S ; Isaac, B ; Bradsworth, N (MIT PRESS, 2022-08-01)

Abstract Urbanization severely reduces opportunities for nonhuman habitation and undermines nonhuman subjectivities, aesthetic experiences, behaviors, traditions, and cultures. In response, humans need to reimagine cities as places for interspecies cohabitation. In this article, a team of architects and ecologists demonstrates that such reimagination depends on the cultural behaviors of multiple species. The authors illustrate the implications of this dependence by designing and discussing nesting structures for the powerful owl (Ninox strenua). The project shows that prosthetic habitats can serve as useful provocation for thinking about interspecies cultures. The authors use this work to propose productive avenues for further research.
A framework for computer-aided design and manufacturing of habitat structures for cavity-dependent animals

Parker, D ; Roudavski, S ; Jones, TM ; Bradsworth, N ; Isaac, B ; Lockett, MT ; Soanes, K (WILEY, 2022-02-13)

Abstract The decline of critical habitat structures, such as large old trees, is a global environmental challenge. The cavities that occur in these trees provide shelter and nesting sites for many species but can take centuries to develop. Artificial cavities, including nest boxes and carved logs, offer an increasingly important conservation response. However, current methods of designing, manufacturing and deploying such habitats have constraints that limit innovation, feasibility and effectiveness. In response, this article aims to provide new and broadly useable methods that can improve the design of habitat structures for cavity‐dependent animals. To address the shortcomings of existing methods, we develop an approach that uses computer‐aided design techniques of generative and parametric modelling to produce structures that satisfy stakeholder needs, computer‐aided manufacturing techniques of 3D printing and augmented‐reality assembly to build functional prototypes, and computer‐assisted techniques of laser scanning and data‐driven design to support installation, monitoring and iterative improvement of designs. We demonstrate this approach through a case‐study project that designs and instals habitat structures for the powerful owl Ninox strenua, a cavity‐dependent and threatened bird. Through a comparison with existing methods, our pilot study shows that computer‐aided design and manufacturing can provide novel and useful approaches to develop artificial habitat‐structures. Computer‐aided design finds geometries that approximate the complex characteristics of natural tree cavities and automatically produces new versions to suit diverse sites or species. Computer‐aided manufacturing integrates materials that match the performance of naturally occurring habitat structures and facilitates the assembly of complex geometries by non‐experts. Computer‐assisted techniques produce precisely fitting and easy‐to‐instal designs, which support gradual improvement through ongoing prototyping and evaluation. These capabilities highlight how advanced design techniques can improve aspects of artificial habitat‐structures through geometric innovation, novel construction techniques and iterative exploration. Significantly, computational approaches can result in designs that can perform well, are easy to construct and instal and are applicable in many situations. Our reusable workflow can aid in the tasks of practical conservation and support ecological research by effectively negotiating the needs of both humans and target species.
Modelling and Design of Habitat Features: Will Manufactured Poles Replace Living Trees as Perch Sites for Birds?

Holland, A ; Gibbons, P ; Thompson, J ; Roudavski, S (MDPI AG, 2023)

The need to support life in degraded landscapes is a pressing challenge of our time. Models from ecology, computing, architecture, and engineering can support the design and construction of habitat features in contexts where human intervention is necessary and urgent. For example, anthropogenic change is causing many arboreal habitats to disappear due to diminishing populations of large old trees. Current management approaches can provide artificial replacements in the shape of poles for perching and boxes for nesting. However, their large-scale long-term impacts are rarely assessed and often unclear. Along with benefits, these structures can result in ecological traps, waste, and pollution. Although computer-aided design and fabrication can provide more sophisticated solutions, limited understanding of tree structures and their use by arboreal wildlife constrain the formulation of clear goals for engineering. In response, this research examines long-term implications at a restoration site that already features a variety of living and manufactured habitat structures. To do so, we build a computational simulation that uses high-fidelity lidar scans of trees in combination with field observations of bird interactions with branches. This simulation models landscape-scale dynamics of habitat supply over hundreds of years. It can account for many types of structures, including trees, snags, and utility poles, irrespective of the processes that led to their availability. We use this understanding of integrated supply to generate quantitative comparisons of design strategies that can inform design decisions in application to arboreal habitats and other modified ecosystems.
How Historic Injustice Towards Bald Cypress Trees Contributed to Coastal Vulnerability In The Mississippi River Delta

Roudavski, S ; Gordon, B (American Society for Environmental History, 2022 Conference, 2022)

In this study we build on recent scholarship which links injustice and vulnerability and extend these framings to the nonhuman world. We examine the environmental history of the lower Mississippi River Delta in relation to the life history of a central nonhuman character – the bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum). Through this history we identify instances of injustice against bald cypress trees and highlight overlapping injustices with human communities. Our work shows connections between these injustices and link them to the impact on coastal vulnerability. These findings support a design framing which operates from the premise that diminishing justice leads to diminishing resilience. Consequently, we suggest that approaches to design for coastal resilience must seek to ensure just outcomes for humans and nonhumans.
Artificial Intelligence for Multispecies Cohabitation: Through the Eyes of a Bird

Roudavski, S ; Holland, A (The Miyawaki Mini Forests and Smart Green Network Symposium, keynote presentation, 2022)

The objective of this project is to consider smart cities in the context of evolving ecosystems and their multispecies communities. To do this, we 1) indicate that current discourse on the ethics of AI has significant shortcomings; 2) link human and nonhuman contributions to cohabitation by emphasising multiple sources of smartness; 3) introduce the notion of ecocentric and interspecies design; 4) discuss forms of more-than-human participation; and 5) conclude by outlining a practical project where design is by trees for birds and with humans who deliberately step back to play supporting roles.
Memorialising Aquatic Extinction: The Transformative Potential of Multispecies Grief

Gordon, B ; Roudavski, S (Blue Extinction Symposium, Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre (ShARC), The University of Sheffield, 2022)

The climate-driven extinction of giant kelp forests (Macrocystis pyrifera) on Tasmania’s east coast may be imminent. Tasmania is a “global warming hotspot.” Waters along its east coast are warming at a significantly higher rate than the global average. For many aquatic species living there, existential damage has already begun. The warming water has killed 95% of Tasmania’s giant kelp forests during the last 80 years. These forests are ‘ecosystem engineers which provide hone for many species. Their decline results in the devastating loss of habitat for many endemic species that are thus facing extinction. In this project, we aim to identify approaches to witnessing, grieving, and memorialising their loss. To do this, we examine material, cultural, and scientific traces of past aquatic extinctions and endangerments in Tasmania. We begin with Southern right whales (Eubalaena australis). Colonial settlers hunted these whales for their fat, which lit city streets as far away as London and drove Hobart’s economic establishment. This hunting led to the near extinction of these whales in less than 100 years. We also discuss the semi aquatic Lake Pedder earthworm (Hypolimnus pedderensis) and the freshwater fish Pedder galaxias (Galaxias pedderensis). In 1972, the Tasmanian government constructed a hydroelectric facility which extinguished the entirety of the earthworm species in one event by flooding their only habitat. The same event caused the Pedder galaxias to become extinct in the wild. Similarly, habitat damage from oyster and scallop dredging overwhelmed the smooth handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis), which has not been seen since 1802 and was officially declared extinct in 2020. We discuss our findings in application to the disappearing kelp forests and consider ways to grieve their potential extinction. We speculate that such grieving species might support transformative struggles in several political areas. This narrative positions the giant kelp ecosystems at the ‘front line’ of climate change and considers what can be learned from their experience.
Forests, Flowers, and Flames: Exploring the Potential of Commercial Beekeeping to Support Forest Stewardship in Tasmania

Gordon, B ; Roudavski, S (The Second International Environmental Humanities Conference: “Critical Animal and Plant Studies,” co-organized by the Environmental Humanities Center and the Department of English Language and Literature at Cappadocia University, Turkey, 2022)

Commercial honeybee cultivation in Tasmania poses opportunities to support stronger stewardship of forest ecosystems. Ecologists have conducted a small number of studies to determine the negative impacts of exotic honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) on native Tasmanian ecosystems, which produced mixed results. However, researchers have not examined the potential for the honey industry to foster a positive role in forest stewardship. In this study, we identify opportunities for commercial beekeepers to incorporate forest stewardship practices in their work. We follow a Tasmanian beekeeper for three weeks during key honey flows and observe several examples of unwitting forest stewardship, which managers could leverage to enhance forest protection. We point out that commercial beekeepers often advocate preservation of old-growth forest, because of its supply of the endemic Leatherwood tree (Eucryphia lucida) - a species which contributes up to 70% of the state’s honey production. In recent years, climate shifts have exacerbated the severity of bushfires and caused unprecedented burning in rainforest ecosystems, posing further threats to Leatherwood supply. We observe an example of a beekeeper inadvertently assisting with bushfire response, in which a disused forestry track maintained for apiary access enabled firefighters to intercept and extinguish a rainforest fire. We note that apiarists possess a unique lens into seasonal ecosystem variations and shifts and show ow this information is embedded in the honey collected by foraging honeybees. These examples show the potential to improve forest protection through collaboration between beekeepers and forest managers.
Multispecies Cultures and Design for Powerful Owls

Parker, D ; Roudavski, S (Flourishing of the Non-Human in Cities, a session at The Nature of Cities Festival and Speaking About the Humans. Animal Perspectives on the Multispecies World, 2022)

We argue that nonhuman individuals are experts in their lives and can offer valuable contributions to the design of future environments. Without innovative modifications of prevalent human practices, the unfolding environmental crisis is likely to grow catastrophically. A typical example of the ongoing degradation is the accelerating extinction of nonhuman lifestyles. Humans dominate the replacement cultures, and this anthropocentrism causes widespread harm. Our project seeks to tackle this problem. The study of human cultures already draws a lot of attention. Research on nonhuman cultures is also growing. However, cultures that involve human and nonhuman agents remain understudied. Integration of nonhuman cultural knowledge into future-oriented design is even more rare. Addressing this gap in knowledge, we aim to show that nonhuman expertise can inform designing for and with all life in the age of human domination. To explore this hypothesis, we discuss an ongoing research project that aims to help large owls thrive in dense cities. The article provides a mapping of interspecies cultures in this case and tests this mapping by considering alternative design scenarios. We begin by outlining characteristic individuals that can lead worse or better lives: organisms, species, families, communities, and ecosystems. The next step establishes dimensions of value according to these individuals using the capabilities approach. We use examples of long-term co-living ranging from interspecies friendship to interspecies violence to illustrate the argument. Owls live better if they are healthy, can procreate, socialise, and make their own decisions. The deployment of multiple timescales, from evolutionary to cultural and organismic, helps to capture the full range of possible cultures including the owls’ attitudes towards various humans. Our analysis demonstrates plasticities and fragilities of nonhuman as well as more-than-human communities. This work contributes to scholarship by reconsidering conservation in response to nonhuman knowledge and testing ideas of ecological justice in application to design.
Design Workflows for a Prosthetic-Hollow Configurator

Parker, D ; Roudavski, S (Viafarini (a non-profit organisation that promotes art and design; shared studio and exhibition space for artists and curators) Open Studio, 2022)

This project uses innovative interactive technologies to specify and make prosthetic habitats for tree-dwelling animals. Community participation is important in implementing ecological initiatives, monitoring their efficacy, and encouraging interspecies solidarity. Existing designs, such as nest boxes, can be functional and easy to make. However, conventional manufacturing can lead to geometric and material limitations which constrain deployment, utilisation, and long-term use. Alternative approaches, such as computationally designed hollows, provide novel design opportunities but are often not feasible in community-led projects. In response to the need for advanced designs that are easy to build, this project explores a variety of materials, forms, and techniques to show that a combination of digital fabrication and do-it-yourself/do-it-together manufacturing can improve and democratise the design of prosthetic hollows. As a case study, this project refers to the Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus). Ecologists expect that climate change will reduce its habitat by 65% in 20 years. In response, Deep Design Lab collaborates with ecologists at MUSE Science Museum of Trento to develop shapes and materials that are sustainable, feasible to construct, and supportive of owls as well as other organisms. The material tests include soil, hempcrete, and mycelium, salvaged wood, laser-cut cardboard, and 3D printed wood. This testing contributes to ongoing research projects that build and monitor nest prototypes including an installation in the Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Trentino. This project supports the implementation of prosthetic hollows within local communities and produces novel, reusable knowledge that will be applicable to other sites and species as demonstrated by the industrial partners’ interest in this approach.
Biomaterials for Replacement Habitats

Parker, D ; Roudavski, S (OME, Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Newcastle University and Connected Everything II Festival, 2022)

This project explores how novel biomaterials and construction techniques can support biodiversity. Our approach is to study this theme in a prototype installation that aims to support coexistence between insects, micro-organisms, and humans. There is an urgent need for such interventions in response to the loss of habitat structures and resulting reduction of biodiversity. The installation completed in an interdisciplinary collaborative setting uses 3D printed clay, living mycelium (a new construction material that uses fungi roots) and hand-crafted textiles. Ongoing monitoring using live-feed microclimate sensors, frequent observations, and microbial samples provides insights into the installation’s suitability for local wildlife. This research contributes to the development of sustainable designs that can alleviate damages from habitat destruction without producing waste or introducing new harms.

Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications

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