Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWhat Is It Like to Be an Owl … in a Human World? Mutual Support, Conflict, and Design Imagination in Interspecies Communities( 2023)This project challenges Thomas Nagel’s scepticism about the possibility of understanding the lives of nonhuman animals and explores cultural relationships between humans and powerful owls (Ninox strenua) in southeastern Australia. We argue that a better understanding of stakeholder interactions in interspecies communities is not only necessary but readily attainable and can reverse many designed or unintentional harms to support mutually beneficial cohabitation. To investigate this proposition, we conduct immersive ethnographic interviews with humans who have committed numerous years to living with owls and apply their learning to map existing and potential contributions of nonhuman stakeholders in the design of urban places. In the process, we document previously unpublished observations of owl cultures, including mourning, farming, teaching, personal expression, place use, and decision-making. Our approach contrasts these behaviours of owls with aspects of human cultures that cause disturbance, intrusion, and misunderstanding. In response, we describe observed motivations for sustained cultural interactions across species, highlighting the need for a fundamental reframing of power relationships in interspecies communities. Our presentation contributes to the theme of Animal Cultures by demonstrating encouraging existing practices and practical steps that can lead to substantial improvements in parallel with the visionary possibilities of politically inclusive interspecies communities.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableToward Interspecies Art and Design Prosthetic Habitat-Structures in Human-Owl Cultures(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.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA framework for computer-aided design and manufacturing of habitat structures for cavity-dependent animals(WILEY, 2022-04)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 owlNinox 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.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMultispecies Cultures and Design for Powerful Owls(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.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableDesign Workflows for a Prosthetic-Hollow Configurator(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.
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ItemBiomaterials for Replacement Habitats(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.
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ItemBio-Digital Manufacturing of Tree Hollows(MUSE – Science Museum of Trento, 2022)This living-laboratory exhibit tests the use of experimental materials for artificial tree-hollows. Globally, thousands of bird and mammal species depend on tree hollows for shelter and reproduction. Most of these animals cannot build their own homes. Instead, they rely on cavities made by woodpeckers, termites, or decay-causing organisms. These critical habitat-structures are in short supply and take decades or even centuries to develop. Human-made or ‘artificial’ hollows, such as nest boxes, can support some species. However, the shapes, materials, microbial life, and microclimates of nest boxes significantly differ from natural hollows. Timber boxes often break after a few years while plastic structures last longer but produce persistent waste. Extreme temperature fluctuations inside nest boxes can dehydrate and overheat inhabitants. Developing sustainable designs that perform as components of ecosystems is a difficult challenge that necessitates better understandings of hollows across their entire lifecycles. In response, ecologists from MUSE and collaborators from Deep Design Lab at the University of Melbourne are working together to develop and test artificial hollows made of novel materials. Using MUSE’s digital fabrication lab, FabLab, the researchers are manufacturing high-tech hollows using tools like laser-cutting, 3D printing, and augmented-reality assembly guides on smartphones. The aim is to develop shapes, materials, and manufacturing approaches that are sustainable, feasible to construct, and supportive of target species and other organisms. This exhibit is evaluating the performances of digitally designed hollows made from soil, hempcrete, mycelium, plywood, and plastic. The design of each hollow specifically targets the Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus), a cold-adapted species that resides in the spruce and fir forests of Europe and North America. Sadly, boreal owls could lose 65% of their habitat in the Italian Alps by 2050 due to climate change. In 2018, Storm Vaia toppled many of the hollow-bearing trees that boreal owls rely on for nesting. To understand how digitally designed hollows compare to the usual nesting sites of boreal owls, this living-laboratory experiment includes a tree hollow salvaged after the storm. Sensors within each hollow record the internal microclimates. Feedback from this experiment will inform the development of artificial hollows to be installed in the forests of Trentino. This project shows what is possible when international and interdisciplinary teams come together to address complex challenges and sets out to benefit ecosystems at diverse sites and scales.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableInterspecies Cultures and Future Design(V&R unipress, 2022-04-11)This article introduces the notion of interspecies cultures and highlights its consequences for the ethics and practice of design. This discussion is critical because anthropogenic activities reduce the abundance, richness, and diversity of human and nonhuman cultures. Design that aims to address these issues will depend on interspecies cultures that support the flourishing of all organisms. Combining research in architecture and urban ecology, we focus on the design of urban habitat-structures. Design of such structures presents practical, theoretical, and ethical challenges. In response, we seek to align design to advancing knowledge of nonhuman cultures and more-than-human justice. We present interspecies design as an approach that incorporates human and nonhuman cultural knowledge in the management of future habitats. We ask: what is an ethically justifiable and practically plausible theoretical framework for interspecies design? Our central hypothesis is that the capabilities approach to justice can establish goals and evaluative practices for interspecies design. To test this hypothesis, we refer to an ongoing research project that aims to help the powerful owl (Ninox strenua) thrive in Australian cities. To establish possible goals for future interspecies design, we discuss powerful-owl capabilities in past, present, and possible future situations. We then consider the broader relevance of the capabilities approach by examining human-owl cultures in other settings, globally. Our case-study indicates that: 1) owl capabilities offer a useful baseline for future design; 2) cities diminish many owl capabilities but present opportunities for new cultural expressions; and 3) more ambitious design aspirations can support owl wellbeing in cities. The results demonstrate the capabilities approach can inform interspecies design processes, establish more equitable design goals, and set clearer criteria for success. These findings have important implications for researchers and built-environment practitioners who share the goal of supporting multispecies cohabitation in cities.
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ItemInterspecies Cultures and Future Design(Brill, 2022-04-01)This article introduces the notion of interspecies cultures and highlights its consequences for the ethics and practice of design. This discussion is critical because anthropogenic activities reduce the abundance, richness, and diversity of human and nonhuman cultures. Design that aims to address these issues will depend on interspecies cultures that support the flourishing of all organisms. Combining research in architecture and urban ecology, we focus on the design of urban habitat-structures. Design of such structures presents practical, theoretical, and ethical challenges. In response, we seek to align design to advancing knowledge of nonhuman cultures and more-than-human justice. We present interspecies design as an approach that incorporates human and nonhuman cultural knowledge in the management of future habitats. We ask: what is an ethically justifiable and practically plausible theoretical framework for interspecies design? Our central hypothesis is that the capabilities approach to justice can establish goals and evaluative practices for interspecies design. To test this hypothesis, we refer to an ongoing research project that aims to help the powerful owl (Ninox strenua) thrive in Australian cities. To establish possible goals for future interspecies design, we discuss powerful-owl capabilities in past, present, and possible future situations. We then consider the broader relevance of the capabilities approach by examining human-owl cultures in other settings, globally. Our case-study indicates that: 1) owl capabilities offer a useful baseline for future design; 2) cities diminish many owl capabilities but present opportunities for new cultural expressions; and 3) more ambitious design aspirations can support owl wellbeing in cities. The results demonstrate the capabilities approach can inform interspecies design processes, establish more equitable design goals, and set clearer criteria for success. These findings have important implications for researchers and built-environment practitioners who share the goal of supporting multispecies cohabitation in cities.
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ItemModelling Workflows for More-than-Human Design: Prosthetic Habitats for the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)(Springer, 2019)Anthropogenic degradation of the environment is pervasive and expanding. Human construction activities destroy or damage habitats of nonhuman lifeforms. In many cases, artificial replacement habitats become necessary. However, designing for the needs and preferences of nonhuman lifeforms is challenging. Established workflows for this type of designing do not exist. This paper hypothesises that a multi-scale modelling approach can support inclusive, more-than-human design. The case-study project tests this approach by applying computational modelling to the design of prosthetic habitats for the powerful owl (Ninox strenua). The proposed approach simulates owls’ perception of the city based on scientific evidence. The tools include algorithmic mapping, 3D-scanning, generative modelling, digital fabrication and augmented-reality assembly. Outcomes establish techniques for urban-scale planning, site selection, tree-scale fitting, and nest-scale form-making. The findings demonstrate that computational modelling can (1) inform more-than-human design and (2) guide scientific data collection for more inclusive ecosystem management.