Animal Architecture

Animal Architecture is an online project broadly concerned with the role of ecology and biology in architecture.

Animal Architecture:
…is a project about what it means as an animal to make and delineate space.
…is a project about the fashion, obsession, and fetishism of nature.
…is not a project about the homes, holes, caves, nests, hives, burrows, or tunnels that animals already architect.
…is a project devoted to bridging the humanist divide between “us” and “them.”
… is project born from the belief that the history of Architecture is a humanist history and guilty of relegating all     other species of life to the status of second-class beings. What makes us so special anyway?

Some principles and definitions of Animal/Architecture:

1) What is an Animal?
As Derrida would claim “Human” is merely the name that a particular section of the animal population has give itself the right to give itself. In a similar vein, “Animal” is the term we give to anything that is not us, human that is. Therefore this website will never take “Animal” literally or at face value; and more often than not, will interpret it in its broadest sense that is anything non-human. So when we talk about Animal we’re talking about everything from squirrels, and cats, to mitochondria, bacteria, and ecosystems in general.

2) What is Architecture?
Just as “animal” has been broadened so will “Architecture.” With Architecture we’re getting at more than just the brick-and-mortar version of human production and thinking more about systems of organization.

3) Animal Architecture:
Animal architecture, in a very simple and general sense follows some basic patterns. Almost across the board we can say that animal architecture is:
- Highly Structurally Redundant (bone, termite hills, swallow nests)
- Relatively Unplanned (ant tunnels, bee hives coral reefs)
- Dynamic, requiring constant upkeep and maintenance
- Generally Inefficient in its use and distribution of materials
- and follows simple structural logic ie. Material at hand, + force of gravity + method of construction = form. We can see this in conk shells, oyster reefs, termite hills, and yes, beaver dams.

4) This Website, Animal/Architecture:
Will cross the human/animal divide by demonstrating, discussing, and exploring the intersection — the at times literal edge between humans and everything else around them. Architecture, as our historical defense against outside forces will be the fulcrum to open this debate. What happens when we no longer view ourselves to be separate from the world around us? Keep checking back to see what we find out.

5) Bio’s:
Animal Architecture is a joint project curated by Ned Dodington and Jonathan LaRocca. Both Ned (resume available here)and Jon have Masters Degrees in Architecture from Rice University, Houston TX and a particular and obvious interest in ecologically aware architecture. Comments can be directed to their attention at (animalarchitecture at gmail.com) They appreciate links, stories, projects and helpful tips.

5.21.10 Contributing Author Alex Tseng is a native of Los Angeles, a researcher of collective spaces in Chinese cities, a candidate for the Bachelor of Architecture degree at Rice University in Houston, and a preceptee at the interdisciplinary design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro in New York.  He serves as President of the Rice Student Green Building Initiative and Coordinator for the ColorCycle! volunteer-based large-scale art project at Rice University.  In his spare time he also maintains Biotic Potentials (bioticpotentials.blogs.rice.edu), a blog that explores life as the driving force for creative design by sifting through processes that occur in natural systems.