Animal Estates

On February 15th, 2012, ROTTERDAM PORT PONDS FOR TOADS…

a thin layer of ice covers the toad mating ponds while they hibernate elsewhere

…(endangered Natterjack Toads) were created by some sensitive folks from the Port of Rotterdam and the Bureau Stadsnatuur Rotterdam to provide a place for these little creatures to mate in the summer, strangely surrounded by this extreme industrial landscape of one of the largest ports in the world, where we are driving around today gathering information and inspiration for the upcoming 9th edition of Animal Estates here later this year, commissioned by the Port and SKOR.

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On February 14th, 2012, CHICKENS AT THE PORT…

a small car and house as chicken refuge

…accommodated in a cute little red wood house next to a half buried tiny car in a fenced-in pen surrounded by a vast post-human industrial landscape was a surprising/exciting thing to discover out the door of the Port of Rotterdam offices – where the kitchen ladies are tending them for the eggs, served to the workers.

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On November 30th, 2011, A COHABITABLE ARCHITECTURE BAT WORKSHOP…

a Cohabitable Architecture bat workshop meeting at the London Animal Estates HQ conference table

…kicked off the series today at the Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services, and we’re getting reports back of good times with bat ecolocation device demonstrations…

This workshop proposes the design of cohabitable space that is to be shared between bats and humans. Through the acts of drawing and model making we will attempt to explore means of cohabitation between species. In traditional bat mitigation projects a small percentage of space is given for bat habitation within agricultural buildings with the majority of space allocated for human habitation. In order to subvert this idea we will design structures where bats take up 90% of the space and humans the remaining 10%. Inverting the proportion of living space allows us to explore aspects of the bat world that will assist us in designing the human space. Aspects such as flight, blindness, suspension, inversion and clustering will be explored regarding the human side of the cohabitation.

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On November 29th, 2011, A LONDON HONEY MAP…

honey from all over London

…by our friends at Åbäke is in the works for the Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services, and today we received this exciting preview planning picture of jars and jars and jars of the local stuff….mmmm honey.

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On October 13th, 2011, ‘MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS PART I’…

Animal Estates London HQ opening

…was the opening event of the Animal Estates London HQ: Urban Wildlife Client Services this evening attracting a group of a few hundred to hear from local bird, bat & bees experts presenting their subjects.

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On September 22nd, 2011, ANNOUNCING ‘ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ: URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES’…

poster # 1 announcing Animal Estates #8: London, England

…coming soon to Arup in London:

ANIMAL ESTATES 8.0: LONDON, ENGLAND
Animal Estates London HQ, Urban Wildlife Client Services
at Arup Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ
October 13th, 2011 – Jan 15th, 2012

OPEN CALL!
We are looking for…
- EXPERTS on each of the 11 animal clients, interested in collaborating and advising
- VOLUNTEERS to assist in assembling the archival presentation about the 11 species
- DONATIONS of books and other relevant printed material for the resource library
- PROPOSALS for the space: presentations, seminars, meetings, events, displays…
- STORIES of your experiences with urban wildlife in the city of London for publication

ANIMAL CLIENTS
Native London wildlife species to welcome back into the city, which would benefit from human constructions, interventions, plantings, hosting, and accommodations:
8.01: Bees (multiple species)
8.02: Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
8.03: Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
8.04: Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
8.05: Bats (multiple species)
8.06: House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8.07: Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
8.08: Common Swift (Apus apus)
8.09: Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
8.10: Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
8.11: Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

DESCRIPTION
Animal Estates London HQ: Urban Wildlife Client Services opens this autumn in Arup’s ground floor gallery space Phase 2 at 8 Fitzroy St, London. This temporary headquarters will provide a place for activists, architects, artists, city-dwellers, designers, engineers, homeowners, and planners to research, discuss, plan, develop, and present initiatives to accommodate native London ‘animal clients’. Projects may range from simple wood nest-boxes that any local resident could construct and strategically install at home, to broad master planning for urban wildlife corridors throughout the city. The space will feature a front reception desk staffed by a full time director with a team of interns, an open area for the evolving display of estate prototypes, work stations about each of the 11 selected native London species, a conference room for meetings and presentations, a resource library, and a place to consult with local urban wildlife experts.

EVENTS
Confirmed events to date include:
- October 13th: ‘Meet the Clients’ – an opening event in collaboration with the Architecture Foundation
- October 25th: ‘Insect City’ – an all day workshop organised by UCL Urban Laboratory and UCL Environment Institute.

CREDITS
Animal Estates is an on-going project by Fritz Haeg
Graphic design and installation in collaboration with Åbäke
Director of Animal Estates London HQ: Joanne Bristol
Exhibition build: Richard Roberts and Nick Westby

MORE INFORMATION
Contact Joanne Bristol, London Animal Estates HQ director, at: london(at)animalestates(dot)org

webpage

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On September 14th, 2011, ISTANBUL CAT ESTATES…

homes for cats on Istanbul sidewalk

…some of them lovingly hand-painted and even featuring the name of the cat over the front door, are what I stumbled upon (almost literally) this afternoon, filling a section of sidewalk on a narrow sloping street just up the hill from my hotel and the Antrepo warehouse sites of the Istanbul Biennial (opening for press previews tomorrow morning) in the Karaköy quarter of the Beyoğlu district.

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On September 8th, 2011, URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES…

Arup headquarters reception, soon to be home to the Animal Estates London HQ

…is the subtitle of the upcoming London Animal Estates HQ project (which I am in town preparing for) coming to the world headquarters of to Arup (the massive global firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants, and technical specialists with 10,000 employees and 92 offices in 37 countries) as a new temporary public division of their operation to be housed in their ground floor gallery from October 13th through January 15th…and official announcement with more information will be coming soon.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 8, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On May 24th, 2011, A SOLITARY BEE ESTATE…

making the trap nests for Roman bees

…or trap nest – similar to the more massive, monolithic version that I made for the Mason Bees in New York City in 2008 – is my Roman rooftop homestead project for the day – having found a big long log out back which I am now drilling a series of holes into, which female bees will hopefully find, fill with nectar, lay eggs inside, cover with mud – in hopes that new bee life will emerge later…

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By Fritz Haeg on May 24, 2011 | animals
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On February 10th, 2011, DUCK RAMP…

territorial duck guarding the Doria Panphili pond island

…is what I found in the pond at Villa Doria Pamphili this afternoon, installed by some thoughtful human, allowing the many duck residents to access the extensively wooded refuge of the island (sort of Animal Estatey) – but after spending some time duck-watching it seemed that one dominant territorial duck in particular was guarding the ramp, and the likely nesting female behind him, chasing away any ducks hoping to hang out on the island.

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On July 19th, 2010, WASPS…

wasp nest

…have constructed a gorgeous home under the eaves of the cabin.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 19, 2010 | animals
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On June 17th, 2010, “CATIOS” OR ANIMAL ESTATES FOR FELIS CATTUS…

Animal Estate for Felis cattus

…are fascinating (as reported in today’s New York TImes), and though I have to admit I am not a huge cat fan, and tend more towards the dog end of the spectrum, these elaborate outdoor constructions almost make me want a cat. (web photos)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 17, 2010 | animals
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On June 10th, 2010, THE ANIMAL ESTATES SNAG TOWER IN SAN FRANCISCO’S PRESIDIO…

The Animal Estates Snag Tower installed in one of the more urbanized areas of the Presidio, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background

…is up and ready for some animal habitation action as a part of the show Presidio Habitats, and I was finally able to see it for the first time this afternoon on a tour of the park by curator/gallerist Cheryl Haines who organized this first contemporary art exhibition in a National Park – including work by Mark Dion and Ai Weiwei – and I’m particularly excited for my first opportunity to see what happens when the Snag Tower is installed outdoors for some wildlife activity, and not just in a gallery as a prototype for human inspiration.

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On June 9th, 2010, THE LOG CABIN IN SAN FRANCISCO’S PRESIDIO…

The Log Cabin in San Francisco's Presidio

…is where I will be doing a talk tomorrow evening at 7pm, mostly about Animal Estates, on the occasion of the year-long installation of the Snag Tower in the national park for the For-Site Foundation show Presidio Habitats. (more info on the talk)

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On May 15th, 2010, PRESIDIO HABITATS FEATURING THE ANIMAL ESTATES SNAG TOWER…

poster (originally design by PS New York) identifying the animal clients for the Presidio edition of the Animal Estates snag tower

…(which is a surrogate for a vertical dead tree, or snag, serves as a collective model home to accommodate six native species that would otherwise take up residence in the cavities of the snag, and was originally commissioned for Animal Estates 5.0: Portland, Oregon by The Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College) opens in San Francisco’s Presidio tonight – with the 16′ tower installed in the park and on view for a year – also featuring projects for animals by Ai Weiwei, Philippe Becker Design, Jeffrey Berkus Architects, CEBRA, Chadwick Studio , CMG Landscape Architecture, Topher Delaney, Design Ecology, Mark Dion with Nitin Jayaswal, Amy Franceschini with ALITE Designs, Anya Gallaccio, Fritz Haeg, Walter Hood, Jensen Architects, Michelle Kaufmann, Amy Lambert, Nathan Lynch, Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, Rigo 23, John Roloff, SIMPARCH with Deborah Stratman, Surface Design, Inc., Taalman Koch Architecture, Mark Thompson, Bruce Tomb and David Tomb, and organized by the For-Site Foundation. (website)

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On February 6th, 2010, ANIMAL SCORES…

…were performed on the occasion of the closing of Intelligent Design: Interspecies Art at The University of California Riverside Sweeney Art Gallery (I couldn’t be there, but found this short video online) by dance students who had been studying the written movement scores and videos of the dancers that had created the movements for the first edition of the Animal Estates project commissioned for the 2008 Whitney Biennial.

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