Architecture installation creates multi-species "lounge" for people and pollinators

Coming soon to the wildflower meadow on UB’s South Campus is “Pollinator Lounge,” a multi-species design installation that invites us to sit among the unsung heroes of urban biodiversity at work in our own backyard.

The artistic assemblage of 43 habitat boxes hosts dozens of species of local pollinating insects, from the carpenter bee and golden soldier beetle to the blue-winged wasp and green bottle fly. With integrated seating for humans and spaces beneath for other local terrestrial fauna such as lizards and snakes, Pollinator Lounge promotes curiosity and connection with our non-human neighbors and imagines a built environment that is inclusive of all species and supportive of our fragile urban ecosystem.

The project travels to Buffalo from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG), which commissioned UB architecture professor Joyce Hwang and fellow architect Nerea Feliz from the University of Texas at Austin to participate in its summer/fall 2024 exhibition, “Natural Attractions: a Plant-Pollinator Love Story,”  which celebrates native plants and their pollinators. Hwang and Feliz – who collaborated in 2023 on a similar public space project in Toronto called Multispecies Lounge – decided to add an educational dimension to the effort, with each organizing a Spring 2024 architectural studio to design and fabricate the habitat boxes. 

According to Hwang and Feliz – who have collaborated for nearly a decade and call their design partnership Double Happiness – multi-species design is a powerful lever for creating more holistic and integrated experiences within both the built and natural environment. This is particularly important given the rapid decline of biodiversity in urban areas around the world, much of which is occurring due to the loss of habitat and urbanization by and for humans. The Living Planet Index reports a 69 percent decrease in monitored wildlife populations since 1970.

“Architects have to consider the impact of their projects on end users beyond humans,” says Hwang, noting that the advocacy organization US Architects Declare lists the three crises of our time as climate change, social inequity and biodiversity loss. “How do we design in consideration of these conditions?” she asks.

Pollinator Lounge seeks to alter the way humans interact with pollinators in our shared public spaces. Consider that people tend to swat away or even kill insects when we encounter them. It is commonplace, as well, for households and businesses to treat lawns and gardens with pesticides and chemical sprays. 

Says Feliz: “How are we going to enhance urban biodiversity if we continue to feel repulsion or fear toward insects? The Lounge invites you to sit next to solitary bee habitats and other pollinator spaces, encouraging us all to feel more comfortable in the presence of our non-human community members. By bringing people and pollinators together, we hope that the project encourages a broader sense of belonging and community.”

Kate Fermoile, director of exhibitions and interpretation for the BBG says the project has been a resounding success. "Our goal was to create a space where people and Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s pollinators could connect and get to know each other, and we’re thrilled to say that we achieved it. The Pollinator Lounge provided a space where insects could gather and, in a way, tell their own stories. Almost immediately, it became a hit with various species. Insects swarmed to the new habitats, and visitors buzzed with excitement over the newly installed seating areas. Every time I walked by someone was enjoying a sunny spot on the lounge."

"A charming surprise came when a house wren built a nest in a habitat originally designed for a Five-Spotted Hawk Moth," she added.

Assigned a specific insect as their client, students worked in groups to shape a 5”x7”x13” red cedar box into a habitat that would provide their pollinator with shelter, protection from predators and even a source of food and water. Hwang worked with six other UB faculty members and 94 students from UB’s sophomore architecture studio to create 28 habitat boxes, while Feliz and her first-year students from UTA designed 15 habitats. Students also traveled with Hwang and Feliz to Brooklyn in May to assemble the lounge on the garden grounds.

Students immersed themselves in the project, becoming experts on their pollinator’s lifestyle, behavior and preferences. Design proposals emerged through primary research and a site visit to the gardens early in the semester (with travel expenses supported by grant Hwang secured from UB's Experiential Learning Network).

Adopting the perspective of their pollinator client, students began to see the space from the insect’s point of view. For instance, since many insects can see the ultraviolet spectrum, students used UV-reflective white paint to highlight their habitat’s entry points and create visual effects in their design. One team used virtual reality headsets to step behind the eyes of the hunter wasp, which have low-resolution vision and see only a limited field of color.

To enhance the public education component, students developed a “first-person” narrative in the voice of their insect clients (edited and recorded by BBG staff, who then developed illustrations of the insects for the exhibition’s print and digital collateral).

Ultimately, the project reveals the potential of multi-species design to enrich the environment and build public awareness of the complex relationships we share with our non-human neighbors, says Hwang.  

“By researching and attempting to understand non-human habitat conditions, students begin to think about spatial and architectural design in a more expanded way," she says. "Our hope is that students take some of the conditions they learned from their research into pollinators and apply that even more broadly to the design of urban sites, including buildings and landscapes. The project also reinforces the notion that architecture and design are a powerful levers of change for biodiversity.“

Adds Feliz: “I hope the Pollinator Lounge helps create a sense of connection between humans and other species, and that visitors leave with curiosity about the pollinators that share the city with us, as well as a sense of admiration for their contribution to the natural environment and their resilience in an urban setting.”

The public was able get an inside look at the Pollinator Lounge with some of the project’s artists at the Artist Talk and Mini Tours event held at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens this October. Attendees were able to learn about the design process for the habitat boxes, explore their hidden visual dimensions through UV reflective light, and listen to fictional narratives told from the point of view of bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and beetles.

Hwang and Maia Peck, UB clinical assistant professor of architecture and one of six faculty members who taught the sophomore studio with Hwang, gave a brief introduction to the project, followed by mini tours of selected habitats by the UB students who designed and built them, discussing the potential impacts of architectural design on biodiversity enhancement.