Nest Building
The brief was simple: build what you imagine a human-sized bird nest would look like.
When River Garden was being redesigned, we contacted local schools to help. In the plans for the park, human-sized bird nests were being designed and installed, some on the ground and one lifted into a treehouse. To incorporate the community, we added three bird nests that local school children would design.
We engaged with elementary, middle, and high school teachers to add the activity to their curriculum during the Fall term. I visited the schools throughout the term to check on their progress.
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT //
There were different interpretations of the brief. The elementary school tended to be the most abstract, the middle school was highly imaginative, and the high school - part of a STEM program - had beautifully drawn and detailed nest designs.
WINNING NESTS //
Each class voted on their favourite design, which would be realized in the park. We sent the sketches and models from the kids to an engineering firm working on the park, and they spaced out all of the materials and structural integrity of the nests.
COMMUNITY BUILD DAY //
Once everything was set and ready to install, we worked with the park’s contractors and organized a build day where we invited the kids from the classes and their families to help us build and install the nests in River Garden.
