Netta
Our current cities are the result of hasted, human-centered building, which has impacted our mental welfare for far too long. Lack of green areas and a search for feeling connected to nature have now led people to dream about leaving the cities for the countryside. Therefore, we wanted to bring a part of nature back to the city and imagined a street where humans and non-humans could coexist.
We chose to focus on a commonly overlooked individual: the bird. Smaller nesting birds face great competition to the amount and size of larger birds in the city such as pigeons and it is feared that more uncommon birds will disappear from cities in the future. Therefore, we decided to dedicate this project to giving these birds a safe space to return to. Furthermore, we realized that it is important for humans to become more empathetic towards birds in the city. Through interacting with them, humans will build a connection to the birds, have greater empathy towards them, and understand that birds also have to have a space within the city.
Therefore, we created Netta: a modular birdhouse and urban space divider that can be used in three ways. They can be mounted onto the walls of buildings (utilizing empty space and creating a greener facade), the individual human can have a customizable version that can be hanged or mounted at their apartment balcony or window, and they can be used as space dividers, installations, and illuminations of the streets. With all of these combined, we will be merging the two realities of humans and non-humans in a non-intrusive way. The project was a collaboration with Wanying Wu.
Year
2020
Size
240 x 220 x 220 mm
Materials
Plywood, HDPE.
