Architectural succession: a multi-species approach to the built environment

Abstract

A novel approach to single-species design is urgently required. Urban expansion is directly impacting global biodiversity, increasing habitat-threatened species reliance on human infrastructure. Whereby recognizing the architect’s responsibility to provide habitat for additional species, the built environment can be utilized for multi-species inhabitation. Derived from the natural cycle of ecological succession, Architectural Succession outlines the process of change occurring for a built environments program and user over time. Informed by this framework, a Research Creation process examines the at-risk Chimney Swift and its food source within a successional multi-species structure. Further enhancing Sudbury, Ontario’s, Regreening efforts, barren outcroppings offer significant opportunity for multi-species built intervention, encouraging habitat recovery and the return of species at-risk. A wildlife observation pavilion explores the successional opportunities of traditional light wood frame construction undergoing the decomposition process to support the regrowth of the forest.