Habitat by Design: Birds, People, and Place

Leading voices from architecture, ecology, art, history and science explore the relationship between people, birds and the landscapes they share. These reflections start at the Wasit Wetland Centre in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, covering architecture and ecology, environmental thinking, and the coexistence of human and non-human species. Habitat by Design: Birds, People, and Place, edited by Vicky Richardson, brings together leading voices from architecture, ecology, art, history and science to explore the ever-changing relationship between people, birds, and the landscapes they share. Through essays, interviews and visual narratives, the book expands on the themes of architecture and ecology, environmental thinking, and the coexistence of human and non-human species, while asking how design can restore and sustain habitats amidst rapid urbanisation. The starting point for these reflections is the Wasit Wetland Centre in Sharjah by X Architects, the first project in the United Arab Emirates to receive the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Built on the site of a former landfill, Wasit has transformed a degraded landscape into a thriving wetland for resident and migratory birds while creating a place where people can reconnect with nature. Building on this transformation, the volume explores how nature and the human-made, often regarded as opposing realms, can be closely intertwined. Habitat by Design offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the role of design in shaping more resilient environments and a more thoughtful relationship between birds, people and place. With contributions by Azza Aboualam, Ahmed Al Ali, Farah Al Qasimi, Lulu Almana, Ahmed and Rashid bin Shabib, Farrokh Derakhshani, Gareth Doherty, Farid Esmaeil, Andrew Farnsworth, Sophie Hosking, Kevin Mitchell, Lucas Morin, Vicky Richardson, Fatin Samara, Catherine du Toit, James L. Wescoat Jr., and X Architects.