A {tag:studenci} from the Department of Industrial Design at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow has an idea for involving city dwellers in caring for the environment. Her proposal is special personalized modules for birds, insects and plants attached to balcony railings. The project supporting nature in the city won in the Environment category of the nationwide Arting 2022 competition.
The Arting 2022 "city?" project is a nationwide industrial design competition that promotes projects indicating solutions that improve the functioning of man and his environment, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and energy conservation. The purpose of the competition was to build awareness of the importance of design in sustainable development through the creation of innovative design solutions. The entries were judged in three categories: Technology, Environment and Bielsko-Biala. We wrote about the entire competition and its results here.
The proposed modules serve, among other things, as nesting boxes for birds and feeders
© Klaudia Chodura
award for a student of the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts
In the Environment category, the award went to the project "Modular System for Balcony Balustrades" by Klaudia Chodura from the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, made in the New Product Development studio, under the direction of Dr. Marek Liskiewicz.
I have established an idea in which products that contribute to the improvement of the environment, while being personalized personal property of residents rather than public objects, carry a greater awareness of contributing to the improvement of the lives of many organisms. In addition, the owners of such products filled with pride in doing good would themselves fuel the machine that improves our environment," the student explained.
The modules were designed for balcony railings in the city
© Klaudia Chodura
modules in care of the environment
Klaudia Chodura's idea is to install a strong mesh as a load-bearing structure on the outside of the balcony balustrade, and attach modules to it, which balcony owners choose themselves. The author designed six types of modules: intended for a nesting area for birds (the dimensions of which, due to the species of birds found in Polish cities, the student adapted to swifts), intended for bathing, which, as the designer explains after extensive research, is an important practice that makes it easier for birds to get rid of parasites, and a module that allows feeding birds with space for water and food.
All modules are of similar size - the bird nesting module
© Klaudia Chodura
Another module is a potting sheath.
It is equipped with an additional chamber, which, filled with water and connected by a cotton string to the pot with soil, would allow flowers to be watered thanks to capillary forces, for example, during trips, the author explains.
module with flower pot
© Klaudia Chodura
The next module is open and designed to collect rainwater, which, drained onto the balcony, could be reused, for example, to water flowers or replenish the birdbath tank. The last module is used for storage - among other equipment used to keep the balcony clean.
The author suggested educational posters in the city
© Klaudia Chodura
educational aspect
The student's project is not only the modules themselves, but also the popularization of knowledge useful to module owners. Klaudia proposed posters with educational content about what plants are worth planting on their balconies because of endangered insect species (module on flowers), or information about what to feed birds with (module on feeding).
project idea
© Klaudia Chodura
durable, simple design and materials
The only limitation in the choice of the type and number of modules is the weight of the soil and collected rainwater. Because of this, the metal mesh should be attached across the width of the balustrade, to posts hooked to the balcony floor, but not directly to the balustrade itself. The dimensions for most modules are the same, imposed by the dimension of the bird nest. Only one module differs from the others - the rainwater container has a slanted bottom, so that the weight of the water held in it is better distributed.
bird feeder with watering can
© Klaudia Chodura
Modules in contact with water are made of resistant plastic, while those for birds are made of treated wood. An important aspect is that in the case of opening modules (feeding, storage, nesting), the author assumed that the canopy opens from its higher edge - directly at the balcony railing, in the direction of looking. With this solution, topping up or cleaning would be intuitive.
The rainwater tank has a slanted bottom
© Klaudia Chodura
The modules are available in two color versions that do not stand out against the city's architecture. One is natural wood tones and wood-colored plastic, and the other is gray-painted wood and gray plastic.
