National Audubon Society

The beautiful new building of the National Audubon Society’s shape is orthogonal and angular. Charles Bergen wanted to create a circular shape to soften the architecture as well as to suggest organic living beings, like birds. For this artwork he created a tree canopy with a very defined, round shape. The tree will be made of a number of layers of wood. The tree trunk and its branches would be abstracted to suggest migratory bird patterns similar to the routes taken by birds that fly from North to South America each year. On the trunk, the leaves, and large round fruits are the donor’s names to the National Audubon Society. There are over four hundred species of birds in Pennsylvania.It was decided we would include just twelve species of birds. These dozen birds represent the twelve families of birds found in Pennsylvania. Herons, Ducks and Geese, Hawk-like-birds, Chicken-like birds, Owls, Pigeons and Doves, Cuckoos, Nighthawks, Hummingbirds, Kingfishers, Woodpeckers and Perching Birds. The twelve wood birds would clearly serve an educational purpose.

TITLE:                          National Audubon Society

DATE:                          May 2018

MEDIA:                        Wood (Red Oak, Pine, Walnut, Cedar and more)  

DIMENSIONS:              

LOCATION:                  John James Audubon Center, Audubon Pennsylvania

BUDGET:                      

The download the full project sheet click here.