Topos 101 Creatures

to po s. no 101

2018

28 MAKING ROOM FOR LIFE – How biophilic cities change the way we interact with urban animals

ISBN 978-3-7667-2356-7

34 TIMBER TALK – Social network: Communicating trees leave humans speechless

Creatures

ANIMAL ARCHITECTS – Under construction: Architectural design made by nature 72

Contents

T H E B IG P ICTURE

CU R AT E D PR OD U CT S

Page 8

Page 102

O P IN ION

RE F E R EN C E

Page 10

Page 106

TAL E N T VS. MA STERMIND

ED I TO R´ S PI CK

Page 12

Page 108

MET ROP O L I S E XP LAI NE D

Page 14 FU Z ZY N EI GH B O U RS

Page 18

BAC KF LI P

Page 110 F UZZY NE IGHBO URS

B E( E)IN G ON TOP

Photographer Sam Hobson tracks creatures in the city Page 18

Urban space as dining room for bees Page 58

MA K IN G RO OM FO R LI FE

CO M PAN IO N S PECI ES WAN TED

The Biophilic Cities Network Page 28

How to promote animal life in urban cores Page 66

TIMBER TALKS

AN IM AL ARCH IT ECTS

Are trees social creatures or even human?

Page 34

The constructed world of fauna Page 72

TAMING THE SHREW

N AT U R E AS SPECTACL E

Animal Aided Design: How to plan with the beasts Page 42

Wilderness among us: Is there an expiry date on the institution of the zoo?

Page 80

BERL I N ’S DAK TAR I

An interview with Berlin’s former wildlife consultant Derk Ehlert Page 46

ESCAPE PLAN

Page 112 FRO M T H E E D GES

Page 114 I MPR I NT

Page 113

T H E W ILD CO N TI N U U M

How to create cityscapes that celebrate humans’ kinship with other species Page 86

WA R OF THE GA ZES

How Hollywood and its media mechanisms influence our view on animals Page 50

N AT UR E N EED S N U TU R IN G

Woolly beasts – The loss of landscape by overgrazing Page 92

CREAT UR ES: FACTS A ND FIGU RES

Page 56

CO N TR IB U TO RS

Page 100 WAR O F T H E GAZE S

Page 50

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OP IN ION

MET R O POL IS EX PL AI N ED

Architects must resist the undirected march of augmented reality Page 10

Kiril Ass on Moscow Page 14

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Creatures

Fuzzy Neighbours What does the public expect a wildlife photographer to do? Of course, get as far away from the city as possible, search for wild animals in their natural habitat and take pictures of them.

The British photographer Sam Hobson follows a different approach – his target of attraction are the animals that live in the city. Armed with his camera, he tracks their nocturnal path through the urban jungle, depicting the animals within our immediate surroundings.

SAM HOBSON

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The Fox Curious, adaptable and intelligent, the red fox is the perfect urban survivor. In Bristol, their territories vary strongly in size. An outbreak of mange in the mid 1990s killed 95 per cent of the fox population.

On a slow path towards recovery, the surviving foxes have become more resistant to the disease.

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Creatures

Sending messages in an olfactory language, plants appear to communicate with each other by different modes and means. Perceived as pleasing scents by humans, trees release chemicals to repel insects or even warn fellow trees.

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Timber Are trees human? Are forests the most social networks of all? In his book The Hidden Life of Trees, German author and forester Peter Wohlleben describes trees as social entities. They even have the ability to communicate feelings to one another, he claims. Published in Germany in 2015 the book sold more than 320,000 copies, before beeing translated into English in 2016. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as the perhaps most important environmental book of that year.

How sound are Peter Wohlleben’s ideas?

STUART THOMPSON

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Creatures

Berlin’s Daktari Wild boar, beaver, peregrine falcon? Berlin has them all!

Germany’s Capital city is a paradise for wild animals. Yet the city also needs to learn how to share its urban space with wildlife or integrate it into urban planning measures.

This is the cause Dirk Ehlert fights for. For his efforts, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in September 2017. Topos author Susanne Isabel Yacoub spoke with Berlin’s former wild animal consultant.

SUSANNE ISABEL YACOUB

topos: Derk Ehlert, you worked for the Berlin Senate Administration for many years as wild animal consultant – in the very centre of the city. In the meantime, you have taken a new position as press secretary and become known as an advocate for animals. How did you arrive at this unusual job?

EHLERT: About 20 years ago people in Berlin began to experience wild animals in ways different from what they had been used to, that is seeing them only in the forest. Instead, the animals were appearing in built-up urban areas. Wild boars were digging up front yards, foxes were crossing inner-city streets. And worried citizens called the Senate Administration in growing numbers. We were forced to react to that. As the city’s wild animal consultant, I was able to hire a number of volunteer wildlife rangers who would capture the animals or, for example, assist the police in dealing with injured martens.

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Taking action: Derk Ehlert fights the stereotypes and prejudice with which many Berliners react when seeing or hearing about wild animals.

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War Animals are inherently close to us, but at the same time stranger than ever. Our understanding of these creatures and our relationships with them are formed by media mechanisms.

This is not a bad thing. But these images cover up an existential element of human insecurity when we are confronted with the world of the beast. A cultural studies-informed essay.

ALEXANDER GUTZMER

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“No one wants to be eaten ...”

FIN SHEPARD IN SHARKNADO 2

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Be(e)ing A new agratrend has emerged in our cities on the heels of urban gardening: Urban Beekeeping. This trend is possible because bees are now able to find a more varied diet in the cities than in the country.

Whether in New York, Paris or Berlin – entire colonies are coming and going above the rooftops.

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Photo: shutterstock/ Daniel Prudek; Fortnum & Mason, London

UTE STRIMMER

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Nature In today’s society of spectacles, an ancient institution such as the zoo still attracts millions of people. Why is that, and how were zoos transformed over the last century? In this essay, Irus Braverman reflects on the relationship between zoo design and the broader societal definitions of nature in order to find answers to these questions.

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Photo: Hagenbeck

IRUS BRAVERMAN

The famous entrance of the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. It was opened in 1907.

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