With the project, Haeg investigates strategies for human and animal coexistence, suggesting the possibility of a more heterogeneous environment. He draws attention to the restrictive way humans shape their surroundings and the tendency for the living city to become a human monoculture. To extend beyond the currently dominant mode of architectural design and housing, he poses questions such as what it means to accommodate animals in the city.
In consultation with five local animal experts Haeg selected the red admiral butterfly, the European kingfisher, the common swift, the grass snake and the green frog. With modest 'estates', or human constructions, local residents may restore these animals’ place in the city. The exhibition space at Casco will be transformed into the Animal Estates headquarters, featuring a video on each of the experts sharing their knowledge, examples of the five estates built for the project, portraits of each of the five experts posing next to a local example of one of the estates, and an information room with brochures and materials about local urban wildlife. In addition, postcards about each of the animals will be distributed and a field guide has been produced, including an essay by cultural analyst Frans-Willem Korsten.
Animal Estates 6.0: Utrecht
Issues of sustainability and co-existence play a central role in the practice of LA-based architect and artist Fritz Haeg, which crosses the boundaries between architecture, activism, and art. With 'Animal Estates 6.0: Utrecht,' commissioned by Casco, Office for Art, Design and Theory, Fritz Haeg focuses on five species that may be accommodated in the human-dominated urban environment of Utrecht with modest, manmade 'estates'.
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