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Animal Architecture Collective

The Animal Architecture Collective is a multidisciplinary team consisting of Cardoso Studio, Jennifer Turpin and Feral Partnerships. Together they have over thirty years of experience making large scale art works and researching complex environmental issues by way of creative practice. With a passion for natural history and biodiversity, the group explores how human and animal built form can connect contemporary urban life to the undervalued and wondrous skill of animal architects.

- James Powell
Architect focused on regenerative, low-carbon and multi-species design.

- Maria Fernanda Cardoso
My work begins with observation—looking closely at how life builds and creates form.

- Matthew Darmour-Paul
Designer exploring how ecological and social systems intersect and unravel.

- Jennifer Turpin
Creates public artworks that move with natural forces—water, wind, tide, sunlight.

- Ross Rudesch Harley
Artist and researcher expanding how art operates across systems, media and environments.

Introducing the Animal Architects, Pop-up exhibition at Spreepark Artspace, Berlin, Germany.

Video installation, Pop-up project
by Animal Architecture Collective (Spreepark Art Space Residencies)

What can we learn by observing the ways that non-human species create their own original forms of architecture and spaces for dwelling?

Inspired by the buildings of animals such as ants, bees, birds, fish and small mammals (some of which are to be found in Spreepark), this pop-up exhibition prompts us to reflect upon the incredible artistry, making skills, and creativity of our multi-species planet.

Hidden Realities. Spreepark Art Space, Berlin, Germany.

How do animals build their homes? What principles of sustainable construction can be derived from the architecture of ants, bees or birds? Animal Architecture Collective approaches the Spreepark from a non-human perspective. By researching animal architecture, the collective questions the dominance of human perspectives in the design of urban landscapes. Their works, including a video projection, a 3D model of an ant's nest, and a compilation of AI-generated architectural hallucinations, present a new reading of the built environment — one that is not based on the principles of control and demarcation, but on the qualities of coexistence, adaptation, and organic growth. By focusing on the frequently hidden architecture of nature in their work, the group introduces a new attitude in which the world is not dominated by humans but shaped in harmony with other forms of life.

English