Description

The development and evolution of building codes have been based conventionally on anthropocentric agendas – from considering accessibility metrics for humans, to ensuring egress routes in case of fires. But what would it look like if we modified building codes to include animal-centered considerations? Bird safe glass is already part of a number of municipal building codes, but how could these tactics for animal-inclusion be expanded toward a more transpecies agenda? For example, might angles for window sills and ledges would be specified to allow for bird perching? Perhaps stone walls and landscaping would enable entry and inhabitation for small amphibians, while gaps between materials would be created to enable bat roosting. Even the placement of buildings on a site and their relative distance to trees could consider the jumping distance of squirrels. This drawing begins to speculate on how the practice of orthographic projection can enable us to understand and incorporate multi-species considerations into a expanded set of building codes.