At the edge of Civitella’s forest, peeking into its manicured landscape, the Shelter of Belonging is a place of respite that welcomes both human and nonhuman inhabitants. The installation features a series of bespoke habitats for local fauna – including bats, birds, and solitary bees, as well as smaller terrestrial animals – with designs that are inspired by fragments of the castle and gardens, specifically alluding to spaces where wildlife dwell in close proximity to human life. In addition to supporting these habitats, the installation’s wooden-framed structures provide seats for residents to rest – just slightly outside of the designated social space of the gazebo and lawn chairs.
Reflecting on seemingly oppositional terms – such as visitor/resident, shelter/home, and visible/hidden – this project is a meditation on multispecies environments and questions of belonging in our biodiverse world.
Joyce Hwang
Architecture, USA
WOJR/Civitella Ranieri Architecture Prize Affiliated Fellow
Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Orange County, CA, architect Joyce Hwang is now based in Buffalo, NY. For two decades, she has been developing projects that incorporate wildlife habitats into constructed environments. Hwang is a recipient of the Architectural League Emerging Voices Award, the NYFA Fellowship, and the MacDowell Fellowship. Her work has been featured by MoMA, and exhibited at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Matadero Madrid, among others. She is a faculty member at the University at Buffalo SUNY, Director of Ants of the Prairie, and core organizer for Dark Matter U.
Wednesday, July 17th, 2024
6:00 PM Artist talk
From 6:15 to 7:15 PM Installation opening
Refreshments will be served throughout the evening
Please RSVP here
With the support of WOJR