Infrastructure and facilities for high-density bird cohabitation on the roof of Postmasters Gallery

with public housing projects by: Aranda/Lasch + TerraSwarm bonetti/kozerski Leeser Architects Materialab with Gensler+Gutierrez OpenSource Architecture SYSTEMarchitects llc theLiving

perch design: Phil Taylor water systems designed by Fountainhead landscape design consulting: Kate Bakewell urban system consulting: LOOK/Laura Kurgan

OOZ is ZOO backwards.

Expanding on her project at the 2006 Whitney Biennial Natalie Jeremijenko has created a unique garden on the roof of Postmasters Gallery – an environmental experiment in interaction with New York City bird population. The complex 1,000 square-foot garden includes architect-designed bird housing projects (multi-family dwellings), water systems, as well as other amenities to improve the quality of life for urban birds. The installation creates conditions to observe birds’ adaptation to human-engineered technologies, testing formal and ecological theorems for high-density lifestyles, sustainable resource sharing among urban organisms, and the play of public/private division in cross-species interaction.

The comings and goings on the roof will be transmitted live to the (human) gallery space downstairs. The birdhouses along with electronic bird perches, drawings and photographs will also be exhibited and available for sale. OOZ is ZOO backwards. OOZ, Inc. [Š for the birds] demonstrates an urban system that accommodates birds and recognizes the valuable services they provide for the Manhattan ecosystem. The roof of Postmasters is now greener, a model for urban development: it includes bird-scaled speculative and sustainable architecture designed by a selection of the boldest architects. Such private housing for birds welcomes them and invites them to urbanize. In addition, Jeremijenko provides public facilities for the birds, regular healthy food, water and bathing facilities, including a system to contain and recycle local waste, as well as other public cultural amenities for birds, such as a concert hall, shopping mall, preferred foliage, insects and other resources. She is in effect launching an experimental platform to see:

Will birds share? Will birds use a weapon against another? Will they use the concert hall to perform and amplify their lovely songs? What forms of leisure will they pursue, given their basic needs are taken care of? A ferris wheel ? Will they self-medicate when given the opportunity? How much ecological impact can one green roof have?