Project by Swezya Joshi and Angela Che Jin Lee
This project explores the spatial and material relationship between birds and birdwatchers at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a bird sanctuary along the Atlantic Flyway. While conservation efforts work to expand bird habitat amidst rising sea levels and declining biodiversity, the site’s minimal birdwatching infrastructure forces visitors to negotiate visibility, proximity, and disturbance informally. In response, the proposal transforms the existing birdwatching bench into a building that mediates human presence and avian habitat. Central to the project is the use of cattails, an invasive yet ecologically signifi cant plant, as a biogenic material. Drawing from the way birds use cattails for shelter, the project adopts different parts of the plant for building components, from fl uffy and fi ber insulation, to screens, to thick carbon-sequestering walls. The building loops between land and water, creating varied conditions for collective and solitary birdwatching, weaving, and shelter. The thatched envelope itself serves as a sacrifi cial layer that invites birds to nest or borrow materials for nesting, while local birdwatchers take part in its seasonal rethatching, maintaining a constant state of unbuilding and rebuilding. The intentional impermanence of the material creates an opportunity for building maintenance to function as a collective practice, preserving the structure and the intertwined human and non-human community over time.
