Brick-Biotope by Fabrikaat

[POST BY Rick Groeneveld]

The phenomenon of building for biodiversity has been a subject to quite some designers, architects, biologists and artist around the world, so we have noticed. Whether it is by creating platforms for planting a variety of trees, shrubs and floral plants or by facilitating habitats for animals, all these ideas share the common purpose of increasing biodiversity in the city.

As the city is built up out of countless layers of participants, materials, artefacts and activities, it is pleasant to see that the products and ideas we have come across so far is an incredible widely varying range. They vary in terms of scale, price, material, use and effectiveness to match the complexity of the urban fabric. In this phase of our research we are assembling a vast inventory of these ideas and products, while focusing mainly on small scale objects and interventions to add to the existing or the new urban structure in the Cruquius area in Amsterdam.

The transformation of Cruquius is slow since the economic crisis, this gives us a great opportunity to apply the building-for-biodiversity mindset on the urban development of the island. By starting with small scale, low cost and bottom-up projects it is possible to increase the biodiversity itself and the awareness on the subject at the same time. The products are not only attractive for their purposed flora and fauna, they make visitors visually aware of what is happening to the area. They can become the keystones of the development of Cruquius towards a nature-inclusive urban fabric.

image: Brick-Biotope by Fabrikaat (Micaela Tardella & Oana Tudose). Brick-sized plaster molds offer spaces for bird’s nests, vegetation and feeding spots