USS Bird
Designed by Lina Grigaitis and Christopher Zayia
The USS Bird birdhouse design was created in collaboration with my five year old son, Christopher. He saw the other birdhouses that his older sister, Adriana, had designed with me and he wanted to create his own . I told him to keep his eyes peeled for something that looked to him like a birdhouse that could serve as our inspiration. We were at a Children's Architecture Event in Millenium Park during the summer of 2011. The children were given slats of wood and encouraged to create something, anything. Christopher started building and then he told me "This is a birdhouse." At first I said "No, that is not a birdhouse." Upon taking a second glance, I said, "Yes! That is a birdhouse!" Christopher was overjoyed. We went home, cut some appropriately sized wood, and together we built the design. Christopher was ecstatic! We went to Home Depot and he picked the color "Mint Sprig" green which is his favorite color. The birdhouse looked fantastic. Christopher then suggested that it needed stickers. I asked, "What? Scooby Doo stickers?" He said no and instead pointed to some security stickers that were stuck on a safety cone. I thought, what a great idea!!!! High Intensity Light Reflecting Stickers! How neat!
And this is how this design came about.
This specific birdhouse design was selected by the Lolk Collective to be honored in a Spring outdoor art exhibit in Canaryville, a South Side neighborhood of Chicago, IL. More information at www.lolkcollective.com.
We donated one of these birdhouses to be auctioned at the Chicago House Silent Auction to help benefit HIV/AIDS victims. More information can be found at http://www.chicagohouse.org/event_birdhouse.html
Photos are c2012 by Patsy McEnroe, www.patsymcenroe.com
Night view of "USS Bird" Birdhouse Design by Lina Grigaitis and Christopher Zayia, photo by Patsy McEnroe, c2012.
Day view of "USS Bird" Birdhouse Design by Lina Grigaitis and Christopher Zayia, photo by Patsy McEnroe, c2012.
