After decades of abuse at the hands of high school shop classes, the birdhouse is getting a much-needed infusion of rocket science. When the Birdhouse Project – a Japanese group that promotes environmentalism through snazzy avian abodes – needed some new designs, it approached architect Constance Adams, who helped develop the interior of NASA's Crew Return Vehicle and the TransHab inflatable module. She accepted the assignment and applied her rules for spaceship building: "precise manufacturing, nontoxic, fully responsive to the user's operational and biological requirements, and designed to meet the cradle-to-cradle protocol." Her creation is called the Nestegg. It's made of lightweight, water-resistant compressed cornstarch – a material originally tested for use on the International Space Station. Several of them can be clustered into "apartments" for communal birds, and at the end of its lifespan, the whole structure can be crushed and composted like any other organic matter. Just make sure nobody's inside.
– Patrick Di Justo
credit:Bird Illustration: Kevin Hand
Nestegg is made of lightweight, water-resistant compressed cornstarch - a material originally tested for use on the International Space Station.
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