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New Home for Design Formation Exhibit “Birds in the 604”

“Birds in the 604”, an exhibition created by Langara College Design Formation students in partnership with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, is on display at the Architecture Institute of British Columbia now through until November 3.

The exhibition designed by second-year Design Formation Program students illustrates the central themes of the Vancouver Bird Strategy. Launched in 2015, the strategy, part of the city’s Greenest City Action Plan, aims to create conditions for native birds to thrive in Vancouver and identifies five action areas that address the challenges to creating a bird-friendly city.

“With the shared core value of education, this partnership with the City of Vancouver seemed to be a perfect fit,” said instructor, Peter Vysek. “The project allowed our students to apply their skills of exhibition design, while also shifting their perspective towards sustainability and the opportunity for positive outcomes for the community and environment.”

“We wanted to create an exhibition that was accessible to the public and educated them on the challenges of making Vancouver more bird-friendly,” added Vysek.

The Vancouver Bird Strategy aims to mitigate threats to the bird population through thoughtful building design, habitat improvement, and improved awareness of hazards initiated by human and pets. The display was constructed using a combination of strips of marine grade plywood, coroplast, plexiglass, and vinyl cut graphics. 

“We now have a sophisticated series of panels that help to describe in detail the various elements of the strategy. The work that the Langara students produced is a much bolder, graphic way to communicate some of the key messages. The sculptural elements are playful and accessible and should encourage greater interaction especially for children, a key audience to effect change in attitudes and behaviours,” said Alan Duncan, Environmental Planner with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

 “The students brought a very fresh look at the strategy and were able to synthesize important directions into simple statements reinforced by dramatic visuals,” added Duncan. “In doing so, they created a very cohesive and professional display.”

The exhibition will be on display at the Architecture Institute of British Columbia until November 3, 2017.

Photos of the exhibition on display at Langara College are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/langaracollege/albums/72157673501248104

Original release fromLangara College

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