Bee Station – Cohabitation
Posted: March 18, 2012 Filed under: Beauty of Design | Tags: biomimicry design methodology, colony collapse disorder, design for co-habitation, genius of place, nature as stakeholder 3 Comments
Image source James Hutchinson: The ceramic orb creates a protected space for a sugary energy boost for tired bees battling the urban terrain.
This gorgeous, thoughtful piece of design is already making the rounds on the web, see Core77 and Inhabitat’s blog posts, but I think it is too special not to mention.
James Hutchinson has designed a resting station for bees, aimed at encouraging urban residents to offer a moment of respite for the busy little insects. It is James’s hope that it may help prevent the alarming loss of bees occurring around the world, known as Colony Collapse Disorder.
Co-Habitation
I love the design for all the same reasons as the other design blogs, but especially due to my personal obsession around co-habitation. The general concept suggests design should not be solely human-centred, but as my dear friend Carla Gould would say, should be life centred. Seeing what James Hutchinson has done is an example of “bee” centred design, where he has taken into consideration all the needs of the insect and used that to drive his design process.
That the final object is desirable to humans and easy to install in any backyard is a sign of total, thoughtful design methodology. But, the real insight to me is the recognition that there is more than one species to design for.
Bouncing Ideas 
Just a story about bees – we currently have a “ponytail”tree (in Australia) that has flowered for the first time. This huge flower (600 mm across x 1000 mm high) is a sculpture of thousands of small flowers that the bees just love. There has been at times up to 10 bees – clearly visible because of the structure of this “sculpture” and each of them have little yellow pollen “tyres” around each of their back legs – perfectly symmetrical and balanced. This flower has now been “out” for 3 1/2 weeks and there is not a time or day when the bees are not on it.
Wendy
Is there more talk in Australia about planting specific trees that attract/support bees? I’m assuming that is still the most insightful action above and beyond the Bee Station…
Finally you get to the point to “design for”. Regards