The images below are my project for Boundary
My instructor for this project was Warren Wake
The first part of the project dealt with animal architecture. Each person was assigned a different animal and had to create two posters showing facts on the animal as well as detailed drawings of the animal's home. The animal I was given to research was the common tailorbird. To create its nest, the tailorbird actually sews the two sides of a leaf together with leaf fibers or other fine materials. Below are my posters for this assignment.
The second half of the boundary project was much more involved. We had design and construct a bird habitat for an architectural boundary condition. The habitat could have be a birdcage for a domestic bird, a birdhouse for wild birds, or a recreational/feeding environment. I chose to construct a bird house for the Purple Martin bird. The birds themselves are what created my boundary conditions. These birds are community birds who like to live together. The home cannot be near trees or shrubs because Purple Martins fear predators coming from these areas. Also, the home should be in a residential area and at least ten feet off the ground. I designed my birdhouse to meet these requirements.
Below is my sketch model of my birdhouse
To construct the box for my birdhouse I used old desk drawers that came from the old engineering building on campus.
I used the wood from the drawers to make my own boards to make the sides of the box from. Each side consisted of four boards (two drawers). I then assembed the sides together with box joints.
For the back of the box I used 1/4" thick pine exterior plywood. The shelves the divided the nine individual rooms were made from the bases of the desk drawers.
I used the same plywood as the back of the birdhouse for the front. This side I covered with 2"x2" squares of leftover assorted colored glass, ceramic tile, and leftover plywood. To cut the holes for the individual homes I used the hand jigsaw. They were cut in a pattern that represented a bird's foot. I then glued down all the squares and filled the cracks with caulking.
To finalize my project I painted the box white, added corner pieces to screw the lid into, and also painted in all the spots on the front lid where plywood was showing through.
The final products from this design are to be sent to a competition at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The projects will be auctioned off after the competition.
