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Avian Palaces: Traditional Ottoman Bird Houses are Miniature Masterpieces

08 Aug

[ By SA Rogers in Culture & History & Travel. ]

Istanbul takes bird houses very seriously, and always has – seriously enough to attach palatial digs for feathered residents to their own human-sized buildings. In fact, the oldest known bird house in Istanbul can still be spotted on the side of the Büyükçekmece Bridge, dating back to the 16th century. The charters for new mosques often included provisions for feeding the birds, and sometimes even allocated huge amounts of gold to look after them. The practice was thought to attract good luck.

Bird Palaces - Ayazma Mosque / Ku? Saray? - Ayazma Camii

Today, you can wander through the cities of Istanbul, Bursa and Edirne and gaze up at the historic structures to find intriguing miniatures mounted to their facades, looking far fancier than anything you’ll ever live in yourself. Each one is designed to complement the building to which it’s affixed, or even act as a scale model of it.

"The bird house"

They’re designed to shelter any birds that might hang out around the buildings, including sparrows, pigeons, swallows, storks and wisecracks. According to Daily Sabah, the birdhouses had a practical purpose for humans, too, helping to keep the birds from hanging out on the roofs and spilling their droppings all over everything, eventually corroding the walls of mosques, inns and other structures.

Bird House, Ayazma Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey

But setting up programs to shelter, feed and protect animals is a longstanding tradition in the area (that remains in place today – check out the adorable film ‘Kedi’ about Istanbul’s street cats for a great example.) The Ottomans also helped street dogs find food, set out saucers of water for any animals that needed it, fed wolves and gave medical care to injured storks.

Bird House / Ku? Evleri

During the Ottoman era, these miniature palaces were painstakingly crafted using elaborate techniques, crowning each one with its very own vaulted or domed roof. Some are three or more stories tall and feature minarets and other architectural details that were popular around the time they were built.

Bird House / Ku? Evleri

Check out Daily Sabah’s feature article on Ottoman bird houses for lots more details about this endearing tradition.

Ku?evi / Birdhouse

Images embedded via Flickr’s API, all copyrights are retained by their respective owners.

[ By SA Rogers in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Aerodynamic Avian Architecture: 12 Bird-Inspired Buildings

05 Mar

[ By Steph in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

bird architecture quadracci main

From a massive kinetic museum structure that flaps its wings to indicate a new exhibit to an internet-famous church in Florida accidentally resembling an Angry Bird, these avian-inspired buildings seem like they’re ready to take off.

Zoomlion Headquarters Exhibition Center, China

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The giant wings on the facade of this ‘transformer building’ in China actually flap, changing the look of the exterior. The hinged steel and glass panels are mounted on hydraulic arms, opening up the interior spaces to the outdoors during appropriate weather. Designed by Californian architects amphibianArc, the structure will serve as an exhibition and display center for Chinese machinery company Zoomlion.

Bird-Shaped House, Czech Republic

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This house in the Beskydy Mountains of the Czech Republic looks like it’s ready to take off, with a titanium-plated room in the shape of a bird’s head and wings. Atelier Simona Group applied their “organic architecture” philosophy to the project, looking to the natural surroundings of the site to guide them in creating a shape that would satisfy the client’s desire for something truly unique.

Mashhad City Entrance, Iran

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Visitors entering the city of Mashhad in Iran could be greeted by this massive bird-like structure, a gateway that “has been designed so that entry and exit of any vehicle will cause changes in the structure.” The weight of vehicles passing over a speed bump causes a movement in the structure’s wings, making it appear to fly. The busier the entrance, the more active the flying movements become.

Santiago Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion, Milwaukee

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Architect Santiago Calatrava’s contribution fo the Milwaukee Art Museum looms over a ship-shaped building, its louvers opening and closing like the wings of a monstrously oversized bird. The kinetic structure also incorporates a cabled pedestrian bridge with a mast inspired by sailboats, and a wave-like galleria. When the louvres are open, they act as a signal indicating that a new exhibition has arrived.