FOR THE BIRDS
... and the people too!
Ava Richards, Northern Cardinal, digital image, 2019
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Goldfinch Tudor Style Birdhouse
Lucas, Mackenzie, Riley, Kenny and Avi
American Goldfinch
Scientific name: Spinus tristis
The American goldfinch is a yellow and black looking bird, normally ranging to about five inches in height. The goldfinch is usually common in the northern parts of the United States. Although migration is somewhat common for these types of birds, most flocks tend to stay in one area of location for the span of their lifetime. These birds tend to live in calm woodland areas, keeping a low profile as to not attract predatory birds. Nesting sizes tend to be about three inches wide and 2 inches telling, made out of twigs, dried grass, and spider webbing, the female takes about six days to complete the final nest. After the female lays her egg, they take roughly 15 days to hatch (tend to look pale blue with grey specks on them). After a 17-day growing period, the parents they leave their young to fend for their own.
Architecture style
The Architecture chosen in the design is call the Tudor Revival Architecture. Originating from the Tudor Style and Tudor period throughout Europe, the revival style started as a domestic architecture first noticed throughout the United Kingdom in the late 19th century, morphing and adaption to different areas. The Tudor style, known for the accent and appeal of ‘half-timbering’ characterizations along then black or white exterior outline, still pertaining of the early 1800’s ‘early English taste’.
The Design Process
As a new project for the ninth grader, the ninth grade teacher wanted to create a project that involves every class while also giving the student the opportunity to learn about nature, cultural backgrounds, and the design process of laser cutting. At the start of this long journey, the students were given a presentation about local birds in the state of Ohio and how important it is to supply homes or a way of easy and safe way of scavenging for food. The point of this project was to create a birdhouse or feeder to help the many birds of our ecosystem. After the design process of 3D Modeling and laser cutting, students in individual groups are required to outreach to their community to donate the birdhouse/feeder in order to allow the citizens to view the joys of the birds.
At the start of the two month long project, individual students were required to research a bird, including; how it migrated, nesting styles/ location, eating habits, and over all housing requirements. After this, we were to research an architecture of a time period of our choosing, which was Tudor Revival style. Once we got into our groups, we had to find a place to donate our designed bird house. The only restrictions were that it had to be viewable to the public and not located at a group members house. A final decision was made to donate the birdhouse to the CareHouse of Dayton.
The start of the design process students chose a model that was proposed by one of the group members. They were then set into different roles of creating the bird house. First starting off with a card stock model of how the house was supposed to look, then moving along to creating a 3d using the program of AutoDesk Inventor. After that, they were required to move their design, face-by-face, into an adobe illustrator file. This was done to create a laser cutable net, that would be used to fit together the final design.
The Birdhouse
The Care House of Dayton
Each day 13 kids are reported to be abused and neglected. Located 410 Valley St, Dayton, OH, The Care House of Dayton serves to house and protect those families that are abused. They stand to help relive that pain and suffering. It has served more than 9,000 families and there always helping more. By donating our designed birdhouse to their organization, we as a group are giving the patients there an opportunity to relax by focusing on the simple things in life. By adding this this birdhouse to the environment there, it gives shelter to bird, while also allowing patients to experience nature in action.