BRIEF

The many known issues contributing to the biodiversity crisis, such as loss of habitat from development and agriculture, pesticide use, and global warming, can feel overwhelming for individuals to do anything about. However, when it comes to birds, each of us can help, and it begins with Penn’s campus!


Philadelphia is located along the Atlantic Americas Flyway, which spans from the tip of South America to the Canadian Arctic. Any food sources and nesting areas, from large parks to backyards and street trees, help provide habitat “stepping stones” for the many billions of birds that make this route annually. The University of Pennsylvania’s campus plays a vital role in the network of bird habitats in Philadelphia. Our campus is home to over 80 species of birds, providing year-round habitat for our resident birds and seasonal habitat for migratory birds; however, our campus is not without peril for birds due to collisions with glass windows.


Building collisions—also known as “bird strikes”—are decimating bird populations. In the United States alone, it is estimated that up to one billion birds die each year from window collisions due to transparency at night from indoor lighting and highly reflective glass during the day. As glass increases, so do bird injuries and deaths. However, research has shown that properly designed window treatments are effective for reducing bird strikes.


This design competition asks students to design graphics for window film that can be applied to exterior glass surfaces for select buildings on Penn’s campus (see list below). The competition is open to all Weitzman School of Design students.

WINNING ENTRIES

FIRST PLACE:

LIFE IMPRINT (Lauder College House: East Facing Façade)

Wenliu Tu + Luxin Zhon

While we enjoy the cozy sunlight and beautiful views of nature from within a protected space made available by huge pieces of glass, we barely understand how much trouble this modern-age innovation has brought to the animals that share the environment with us. This project aims to promote awareness about the urgent issue of bird collisions on campus while serving the function of preventing birds from hitting the east-facing glass facade of the Lauder College House courtyard. Although this building is partially covered with bird-friendly film, the facade of the second floor and above is still a potential hazard due to its large spans of transparent surface, and the reflections of the sky and vegetation, particularly because the courtyard contains several trees surrounded by the glass façade. This student housing and cafeteria location is also densely populated with people and thus can serve as a great location for promoting awareness about bird strikes. This project uses the idea of the mark left by a bird hitting the window as a memorial for their death and a warning to humans, urging everyone who sees it to take action to prevent bird mortality from window collisions. Since the second story and above are the corridors of the student apartments, we avoid blocking the view from inside to the city and Woodland Walk by using the maximum distance grid with the standard of the 2x4 rule.


 
 
ANIMALIA IN MOTION (Pottruck Gym)

Sara Sterchak    

This window film design aims to connect birds, humans, and the fitness programmed building together through the concept of movement. The Pottruck Gym, a destination for students, faculty and community members, is designed such that each floor is programmed for different kinds of movement. Each of these different exercise types activate the space in a unique way. In order to reflect and emphasize that programming, the window film design associates a different bird movement pattern to each floor of the building. The film displays not only the undulating flight path that a bird travels along, but it also displays the force of their flapping wings that propel them through the air. The exertion of energy that a bird uses to fly can be related to the energy used by the gym occupants executing their workouts. The pattern base uses an abstraction of a bird’s form to generate the rounded triangle shape. This triangle shape pointing in one direction is not only symbolic of a bird in flight, but is also a symbol for the occupants to remember to keep pushing forward on their journey to better physical and mental health.

SECOND PLACE:

STAGGERED TRANSPARENCY (Larry Robbins House)

Audrey Genest + Andrew Reichenbach

Juxtaposed between historic buildings, the rear façade of the Wharton and Penn Engineering program’s Larry Robbins House has a strong relationship to the exterior courtyard and to the rest of the Penn campus. Taking inspiration from the intricate manganese iron-spot brickwork, we abstracted the image through an iterative patternmaking process. The pattern is made by a grid of circles and hexagons, each with two sizes, and then layered to create the effect of the brick surface. Along with blocking the reflection that is hazardous to birds, the intricate geometries come together to form an organic structure, mimicking the handmade texture of the brickwork.


IN / OUT (Moelis Family Grand Reading Room, Van Pelt Library)

Isobel (Zoe) Morrison

Inspired by the inherent reflective quality of the window, this intervention proposes a series of stripes, where one side of the stripe is mirrored (facing the interior) and the other side is a buffed mirror-like silver color with a diminished reflection. This intervention aims to maintain what is oftentimes magical about buildings full of glass – the ability to see outside while being surrounded by reflection. The collegiate library is an ideal setting for this kind of intervention: the interaction between the interiority of intellectual thought and the exterior environment of social and communal dynamics that are enabled by the college institution. The outside texture of stripes emulates the existing architectural details and the long columns, which draw the eyes to the ground plane where the quad meets the library. Inside, the reflection of the interior alternates with views of the classic quad outside, creating a unique experience of being both within and outside of the library.

HONORABLE MENTION:

WARBLE SYMPHONY (Larry Robbins House)

Chenxin Shao, Wen Qin, Jun Yue

Windows and glass facades are seriously threatening the lives of wild birds. Inspired by the melodious chirping around us on campus, our proposal began with acoustic studies of the sound frequency of common species of birds, which include gray catbirds, yellow-throated warblers, and ovenbirds. These birds constitute an important part of the biological environment of the school district. We used their songs to compose the music score of the “warble symphony.” We generated the graphic pattern by further abstracting the frequency of the three species of birds into a composite image that was then pixelated to represent mountains and forests. This approach is meant to symbolize releasing the birds back to their larger population and environment.

WHY GLASS?

Window collisions are one of the top 3 human-related causes of bird deaths, with 54-76% of collisions being fatal (Portland Audubon). Glass is dangerous for birds due to its high reflectivity and transparency. Depending on its composition it can appear like a mirror or even completely invisible. Humans are able to register “glass” due to context clues such as windows frames, dirt and/or smudges (NYC Audubon). Birds on the other hand are unable to perceive these context clues and take what they see as “literal”. Vegetation and sky reflected by windows creates an ecological trap for birds who are unable to register them as solid objects. As a result, birds collide with windows and many die upon impact.  For more information on the threat of glass to birds please visit the RESOURCES page. 



Visit Penn Bird Strikes iNaturalist page to see where over 500 documented window collisions have occurred on Penn’s campus. 

SELECTED BUILDINGS

These buildings were selected because of their potential for bird strikes due to the large areas of transparent and reflective surfaces. 

1.   Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics
2.   Lauder College House: East facing facade
3.   Meyerson Hall
4.   Pottruck Gym
5.   Vance Hall
6.   Wharton Business School  (Locust walk entrance)
7.   Levine Hall
8.   Tangen Hall
9.   Larry Robbins House
10.   Perry World House
11.  Van Pelt Library: Moelis Family Grand Reading Room

2X4 RULE

The 2X4 rule describes the maximum distance between elements in a bird-deterrent pattern. Horizontal elements should be spaced no more than 4 inches (100 mm) apart, and vertical elements should be spaced no more than 2 inches (50 mm) apart. The rule stems from studies conducted by Dr. Daniel Klem from the Muhlenberg College who found that birds will not fly through spaces that are smaller than these dimensions. Elements can be any color; however, high contrast between the pattern and its background is considered most effective though this contrast can change throughout the day. Transparent films have not proven effective at deterring bird strikes. Patterns DO NOT need to be the same across all surfaces.

While stripes and dots are the most common bird-deterrent pattern used for window films, designs can be of any shape as long as they follow the 2X4 rule. When designing a pattern, you’re encouraged to be creative in your utilization of the 2X4 rule and in consideration of the building and its context.