During her first year at the Yale School of Architecture, Kenyan graduate student Barbara Nasila was tasked to design a hypothetical outdoor pavilion in a local neighborhood called Dixwell, featuring an original copy of the enslaver John James Audubon’s book, The Birds of America. As Barbara got to know Dixwell, she realized that there was already an existing conversation about birds in the community. She designed an urban oasis with bird habitat and space for community groups — but she left out The Birds of America, feeling that Audubon wouldn’t have cared about this project. 

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. 

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