Ali Orchard-Mitchell

Year 2 MArch

Ecological Monuments For The Future

Protecting & Expanding Habitat Networks For Resident & Migrant Avian Species
The Fens, UK

Ecological Monuments for the Future explores mitigating and adapting to the effects of anthropogenic climate change for avian populations within the Fens. The project adopts a cosmopolitical design approach, centring non-human design needs within wider ecological adaptation strategies. The Fens is home to numerous seasonally migrating and residing avian species, making it a site of global importance to the movement of avian species and interconnected ecosystems.

At the territorial scale, mapping and agent-based modelling simulate anthropogenic repellents and natural attractors across the landscape to understand potential avian movements. The resulting spatial strategy addresses a climate-stressed and transitioning landscape, identifying the need for new agricultural and landscape stewardship practices. This includes re-establishing a network of wetlands, marshes, grasslands, and woodlands alongside nodal breeding and refuge sites.

At the material and architectural scale, the design adopts an umwelt sensibility by being empathetic to avian needs and the unique sensory way in which they perceive their environment. This was explored through a “sensory territorial model” [BP1] where viewing perspectives, light spectrums, and material properties, as perceived by avian species, were emulated and tested.

The focal point of one of these nodal sites is a tower-like structure that operates as a refuge for avian species, capable of enduring changing landscapes, climates, and conditions in the coming centuries. It is currently supported through the auxiliary programs of a visitor’s centre to provide educational understanding on umwelt-centred climate adaptation, while a field lab for ornithologists is used to study resident and migratory wildlife at the site and across the Fens.