Bird Houses
Hollman Reuter Sandman Architects
Glorieta del Doctor Zubía – Concéntrico 09
The park Glorieta del Doctor Zubía is a small urban oasis in the centre of Logroño. We find the light and the atmosphere in the park attractive. Our proposal emphasizes nature’s presence in the city centre and enriches its biodiversity by introducing birdhouses.
With the help of a local ornithologist association, we have identified five different bird species and bats that potentially would fancy the environment of this park:
The Eurasian Scops Owl (Otus scops), the Great Tit (Parus major), the Black Red Start (Phoenicurus ochruros), the White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and bats (Vespertilio). Each one of these species has its own habitation requirements, and we have accustomed the houses to fit these needs. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee that it will be these particular birds who will move into the houses. We offer many alternative houses for each type of bird. All houses will not be inhabited as the birds are territorial. We do not yet know if the birdhouses will have inhabitants during this season. However, after the festival, the installation remains in the park. Hopefully, the houses will be occupied by breeding birds for years to come.
The houses are built out of recycled plywood. The ornament of the houses reflects the impressive stone paving surrounding the trees in the park.
We received valuable information and assistance from our local ornithologist collaborators. The project could not have been realised without their active support.
Hollman Reuter Sandman
The architects Saija Hollmén , Jenni Reuter and Helena Sandman started their collaboration in 1995 with the Women’s Centre project in Senegal. Today, their activities span from interiors to urban planning. They work in Finland as well as with several underprivileged communities in low – income settings , mostly in African countries . The group believes in innovations by investigation, where the landscape, sensitivity towards materials and site – specific interventions are the means for a new architecture. Their works have been honoured with national and international prestigious awards and published and exhibited widely. Their work was exhibited for the third time at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. They have also been exhibiting at the Venice Art Biennale .
The architects have been invited as guest speakers all over the world. Alongside the artistic work , they all teach at Aa lto University, Helsinki. Saija Hollmén is a professor of practice in Humanitarian Architecture, Jenni Reuter is an associate professor in Architectural Principles and Theory, and H elena Sandman is teaching the Interplay of Cultures master studio course.
The group have founded Ukumbi NGO in 2007. Ukumbi is a Finnish non – governmental organisation that offers architectural services for communities in need.
With the collaboration of
