Clay

Manimal

Has it become or will it become unsustainable to stay on the earth if we do not start rethinking the relationship of man to nature?

Mameluca Studio believes the advancement of man is a wonderful thing and is highly praised, but there is no need to keep proving humanity’s progressive capabilities. They know that all development was necessary, but now is the moment to create a new responsibility for the land and the living organisms that inhabit our planet.

This Anthropocene has culminated in man's ability to create, destroy, and alter our planet. During this period humans have had to reinvent themselves, the need for water, food, land, culture, science, war, peace, and so on has led us to our current state and we are now aware something needs to be done to rescue the planet for future generations.

There is no criticism about humanity’s course, but there will be if nothing changes in the forthcoming decades. Population growth was the origin and cause of the Anthropocene period. Humanity finally has been confronted with the planet’s capacity which will no longer sustain human life. Life is cyclical and it is normal to feel the need to rethink where we have come from and where we want to go, not only as individuals but collectively. An effort between countries, races, religions, cities, and continents is needed to result in solutions to global problems that concern everyone and everything.

Mameluca Studio intends to make people conscious of their responsibility of taking care of the planet by putting Earth at the centre of decisions and consideration in the decision-making process.

Observing how other living organisms utilise natural resources to build their habitat, they observed how birds use nature’s raw materials to assemble structures and how these interact with the world. Their research on the Brazilian birds’ nests from João de Barro, João Graveto and Tecelões (the weaver birds) stood out because of their use of clay, sticks and leaves. All their architectural structures met the needs of the occupant and left no waste to the planet.

After the experience of observing birds, they decided to make a connection with what humans are returning to the planet compared to birds and decided to build an installation with three houses or nests. They were designed with spiral forms and people can enter and experience the multi-sensory aspects of smell, temperature, and textures. In the centre, the nests will be constructed with organic materials. In contrast, passing through the outermost part, the materials used are urban wastes, constructed with the same techniques observed from birds. The materials chosen were daily waste produced by humans: paper, wood, and plastic. At the centre of each house, there are real, abandoned birds’ nests, no longer in use found in Brazil.

The motivation of this project is more than presenting solutions, they intend to highlight a different way of living, by showing that the world was created with a community of different species, and it can be kept the same way by asking ourselves: what do we want to leave as our legacy for future societies?

Making process

For the little João de Barro, clay and straw were used, the latter to give extra strength. For the large nest, discarded cardboard was used, then crushed and mixed with white glue.

For Joao de Pau's small nest, wicker intertwined between them was used. For the large nest, about 100 pallets were cut down, then burned and fastened together with the help of screws.

For the small nest of Guacho, coconut fiber was glued to a screen and for the large one, several discarded fishing nets were cleaned.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.