City and the Forest is a series of exhibitions and workshops aimed at promoting environmental protection and ecological attitudes. The exhibition premiered during Design March in Reykjavik in March 2016.
The aim of the exhibition is to draw attention to the animals living in the cities: birds, insects and mammals. Selected designers have created nesting boxes for animals. Their choices were influenced by their own experiences as well as concerns about the changes taking place in their environment.
The exhibition presents both new and existing projects. The boxes presented in it are intended for different animal species, for example: swifts, which reside on the wall next to the designers’ studio or the hedgehogs living in the neighborhood. The projects demonstrate a very conscious approach by using natural defenses against pests or are a bit more humorous in their attempt to fight the thermomodernisation of the cities which deprives the birds of their shelters. They show a fascination with bats or insects. All projects show the great desire to reconcile living in the city with being close to nature.
The exhibition is made possible due to the partial funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the support from the Polish Institute in Stockholm.
DESIGNERS
Agnieszka Bar / SIKORA BOGATKA [Great Tit]
"I chose the nest box for great tits, which is governed by strict species protection. The great tit often nests on urban areas. As I usually work in the glass material I was looking for points of contact between the needs and recommendations for the nesting boxes and properties of glass which will have a functional justification. The project is aimed to be experimental in nature and serves to help bird-watching."
Beton / Marta and Lech Rowińscy / WRÓBEL [Sprarrow]
"For the sparrow. With the box for sparrows we would like to fight a little - although quite shyly - with thermomodernization. Because it is the great enemy of sparrows and also the insidious enemy of Polish architecture. Sparrows have nowhere to go and disappear from the hedges and rowans while styrofoam sticks to us."
Beza Project / Anna Łoskiewicz-Zakrzewska, Zofia Strumiłło-Sukiennik / Collaboration: Krzysztof Benke, Tomasz Korzewski / JERZYKI [Swifts]
"We'll do a box for swifts which have their nests on the blank wall of the building by our workshop. The wall can be seen from our windows and we want the swifts to feel at home there."
Dingflux / Asia Piaścik / Kafti / Monika Brauntsch / DZIKIE ZAPYLACZE [Wild Pollinators]
"Cemented cities and sleek urban parks do not offer many places of refuge for wild pollinators. Creating a place for them does not require burdening efforts and yet it supports the important role they play in nature. The design topic of a hotel for insects also allows for quite a lot of flexibility."
Grynasz Studio / Marta Niemywska-Grynasz, Dawid Grynasz / JEŻE Z ŻOLIBORZA [Hedgehogs from Zoliborz]
"Living in Warsaw's Żoliborz, often during the summer evening walks we meet these cute and useful animals. A large number of gardens and green spaces provide the hedgehogs with space for survival and development. The hedgehog box designed by us can be placed in the garden and can serve the animals as a breeding ground and a safe place to spend the winter."
Kosmos Project / Ewa Bochen, Maciej Jelski / NIETOPERZE [Bats]
"There are many superstitions and legends about bats. They are very mysterious, they lead nocturnal lives, they hang upside down and collapse into a state of hibernation in strange places – all of this was linked with magic, witches and vampires. Even today many people believe that bats drink blood and get ensnarled in hair. Whereas bats are very useful for humans as they feed on insects, so having a bat colony near the house makes the insect troubles disappear."
Malafor / Agata Kulik-Pomorska and Paweł Pomorski / WRÓBLE [Sparrows]
"We will do sparrows - boxes for an entire colony of sparrows, we go for quantity. Why sparrows? Because they are the birds closely associated with human settlements and they had colonized human settlements thousands of years ago! They lives in flocks, so they need a real residential to live. "
Mapog / Marcin Pogorzelski / SIKORKI [Tits]
"Sheds are a part of the natural defense system against harmful insects. The motivation for the design was the growing number of horse-chestnut leaf miners upon which the tit feeds. This is a continuation of my previous project, which envisaged a reduction of the use of chemicals in gardening backyards and strengthening the natural protection based on cooperation with the pest’s natural predators."
Menthol Architects / Liliana Krzycka, Rafał Pieszko / PTAKI WRÓBLOWATE [Passerine Birds]
"The theme of environment protection is very dear to us. We are the authors of Poland's first tower structure for nesting swifts. This project has raised our special interest in the issues of bird protection in the city. The idea of passerine bird boxes came up during a walk in the nearby park, where we observe the birds. We wanted to refresh the image of the existing nesting boxes and highlight the problem of declining bird populations in the city."
EXPERTS
Ussuri
The active protection of wild animals by providing them with professional nest sites- the nesting boxes, nests and other shelters and conducting activities related to the preservation of breeding stations is the mission of the Ussuri company.
Natural Society "Bocian" [“Stork”]
We are a non-governmental organization. We protect endangered species and habitats. In doing so we use different types of nesting boxes and platforms. For years we have been helping storks, falcons, owls, urban birds, bats and dormice.
