Bird deaths by glass
This is about the sad story about bird deaths by glass.
Making it even more of a tragedy is that I am not sure why there needs to be so much glass in the first place.
"Birds do not understand the concept of glass," added architect Dan Piselli, director of sustainability at US architecture studio FXCollaborative, who has worked on reducing bird strikes at several New York City buildings.
"They didn't evolve to deal with glass. They simply cannot see it."
From my observation, some residential developments are almost entirely cladded in glass.
Interestingly, the curtains in the units within are almost always entirely drawn close, at most times of the day.
An almost permanent blanket of opacity, behind a veneer of transparency.
Why?
I am asking not because I am against the use of glass. I am all for the responsible use of glass. I love its transparency and visual lightness.
I am asking as I feel this industry has operated on assumptions on what the end user wants, or what the 'market' demands, for far too long.
Especially in this part of the world, where it is a tropical environment.
Time to pause and think perhaps?
Btw, I shared in an earlier post about a sun bird that crashed into our office glass door from the external landscape.
It was stunned by the impact, but thankfully recovered sufficiently shortly after to fly off. Slightly shaken, but it should be fine.
Since then, we have stuck some visual markers on the glass. Hopefully enough to forewarn exuberant birds that there is a transparent barrier which can hurt them.
After all, birds do not understand the concept of glass.
But we humans supposedly do.
This is about the sad story about bird deaths by glass.
Making it even more of a tragedy is that I am not sure why there needs to be so much glass in the first place.
"Birds do not understand the concept of glass," added architect Dan Piselli, director of sustainability at US architecture studio FXCollaborative, who has worked on reducing bird strikes at several New York City buildings.
"They didn't evolve to deal with glass. They simply cannot see it."
From my observation, some residential developments are almost entirely cladded in glass.
Interestingly, the curtains in the units within are almost always entirely drawn close, at most times of the day.
An almost permanent blanket of opacity, behind a veneer of transparency.
Why?
I am asking not because I am against the use of glass. I am all for the responsible use of glass. I love its transparency and visual lightness.
I am asking as I feel this industry has operated on assumptions on what the end user wants, or what the 'market' demands, for far too long.
Especially in this part of the world, where it is a tropical environment.
Time to pause and think perhaps?
Btw, I shared in an earlier post about a sun bird that crashed into our office glass door from the external landscape.
It was stunned by the impact, but thankfully recovered sufficiently shortly after to fly off. Slightly shaken, but it should be fine.
Since then, we have stuck some visual markers on the glass. Hopefully enough to forewarn exuberant birds that there is a transparent barrier which can hurt them.
After all, birds do not understand the concept of glass.
But we humans supposedly do.