We Don't Need No Stink'n Architects

Architect? We Don't Need no Stink'n Architects

I don't see how Ludwig Mies van der Rome, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Ieoh Ming Peri, Zaha Hadid, or even Gaudi could improve on the design and execution of this structure.

I was out to plant a flat of Edraianthus serbicus and a few Lewisia pygmaea when I found this bird nest cradled in the branches of some potted Japanese maples. Just another nest I thought, brought down by the recent wind. And yes, it probably is just another ordinary nest designed and constructed by ordinary birds in their ordinary way, but, I was amazed at the complexity and refinement entailed in this nest. I would love to see a time-lapse recording of the bird(s) weaving together the hundreds and hundreds of strands of grass and twigs and twine into such a symmetrical construction, a physical symphony. This nest is oval, most I find are circular. But more amazing to me is that after constructing the nest they lined the interior with mud, and it is as smooth and finished and blemish-free as any mud-slinging interior decorator could wish. The only thing missing is a mural by the bird equivalent of Diego Rivera, or a couple of framed insects pinned to the wall to give it that 'homey' touch.

And, just to finish the job they covered the bottom of the nest with a pillow of soft vegetation.

I stand in awe, again, of all that the natural world was, is, and will continue to be.

We do not need, and never have needed, most of the things we are led to believe we do.