El Baño de las Palomas, 2024
Plaza del Sortidor en Poble Sec, Barcelona, ES
The various processes that led to pigeons inhabiting urban areas is far from natural, but these birds can serve as mirrors to our hyper order and regulation of urban spaces.
Pigeons “scoff at that rigidity, prospering without permission in spaces designed for us” (Soniak, 2024). By designing for a pigeon in a human space, pigeons begin to gain rights in the urban landscape.
It is not simply a birdbath. It is a political statement to notice what creatures inhabit the urban world around us, what beings have we abandoned once our use with them is up? How do we continue to design cities and community spaces for all living beings?
Pigeons occupy a significant role in many large cities, and their existence merits recognition and respect. My proposal represents a change in the status quo, towards including their needs in the designing of the built environment, especially considering that humans are the reason they proliferate in cities. Pigeons are intelligent beings, and we do not have any more right than them to be here.