Culture
Urban Birds Are Making Themselves at Home in These Colorful Little Houses
A Danish artist builds scrapwood houses for his avian neighbors.
Despite the abundance of pigeons, bobbing pompously and well-fed through the streets, cities can be tough places for birds. They’re loud and polluted and often short on the quiet, secluded spaces in which avian urbanites like swallows and sparrows can roost.
So Thomas Dambo started making homes for them. Since 2007, the Copehnagen-based artist has built over 3,500 birdhouses in cities around the world, from Beirut to Berlin. The clever, colorful dwellings made from salvaged wood and donated paint shield their winged occupants from their harsh urban environments.