Sound of silence. How can an architectural proposition enhance and promote ecological conservation, while facilitating an educated interaction between wildlife and humans?

Abstract

If the iconic kiwi species became extinct would the nation mourn its loss? Effects of climate change, increasing populations, and expanding urban landscapes has contributed to the degeneration of our diverse and fragile ecologies with which New Zealand’s identity is built on. With much of the remaining endangered fauna confined to offshore islands, the role that ecological conservation serves is becoming increasingly vital for the survival of these endemic species. Failure to do so and the title ‘kiwi’ New Zealanders call themselves could be named after an extinct species killed by humanity.

This research project, ‘Sound of Silence’, addresses a limitation in current thinking about the environment within the human race. Using architecture as a mechanism to expand public ecological literacy, by providing an educated sensory experience that informs an emotional connection with wildlife, and therefore a desire to protect. The research undergone will explore the possibility of integrating a structure into the Motutapu Island landscape, which through both its architecture and programme, will play an active role in the restoration of the islands ecologies.

Project site: Between Islington Bay on Rangitoto Island and Home Bay on Motutapu Island.