nanu design

MURMURATION

INTERDISCIPLINARY AEDES EXHIBITION

PROJECT TYPE: Exhibition
LOCATION: Berlin, Germany
COLLABORATION: Oana Petrescu (Architecture), Andrei-Teodor Popa (Architecture), Kateryna Tovstyha (Graphic Design), Ekaterina Vorobeva (Graphic Design)
YEAR: 2025

Murmuration: Beyond the Human Horizon invites us to re-think shared spaces by moving beyond the human-centered worldview of the Anthropocene. It challenges viewers to explore the symbolic and literal "horizon" – the boundary of human understanding – through the eyes of non-human life forms. By lowering the perspective to ground-dwelling insects or raising it to the soaring skylark, the proposal highlights the intersections where human and non-human lives meet, conflict, and coexist. Through collaboration with BUND Berlin and Claudia Wegworth, we present case studies, facts and insights to challenge misconceptions and offer solutions. The aim is for Murmuration to underscore the absurdity of the status quo, highlight the critical importance of biodiversity, and to advocate for more thoughtful, inclusive human interventions.

As a challenge to the status quo, the Tempelhofer Tower stands as both a statement of opposition to speculative development and a vision for a shared future that embraces diverse perspectives. It redefines urban landscapes as multifaceted habitats, where humans coexist alongside a diversity of life forms rather than claiming sole ownership.

TEMPELHOFER FIELD

In 2014, over 700,000 Berliners voted to protect the site from development, resulting in the “Law for the Preservation of Tempelhofer Feld” (ThFG), safeguarding it from privatization and re-naturalization.

BALANCING RESPONSIBILITIES

The field's success reflects public advocacy for green spaces, particularly for nearby districts like Kreuzberg-Friedrichain, Tempelhof-Schöneberg and Neukölln. Tempelhofer Field remains a symbol of cohabitation – where people and nature share an evolving urban landscape

THE CONTROVERSY

Despite the 2014 referendum, Berlin's government now pushes for peripheral development to address the housing crisis. The Tempelhofer Feld Ideas Competition has reignited debate, with critics fearing it could lead to speculation and weaken legal protections.

IN OPPOSITION

Our proposal, the Tempelhofer Tower Intervention, stands as a monument to non-human life-an inaccessible structure challenging urban planning that prioritizes development over ecological balance. The tower envisions a future where humans coexist with diverse life forms, questioning the status quo and advocating for shared urban habitats.

Murmuration serves as a reminder that our shared spaces are not ours alone to claim-they are multifaceted habitats where human and non-human lives converge, requiring collaboration, empathy, and innovation to sustain the delicate balance of coexistence.

EXHIBITION

Accompanying this intervention is our manifesto, Murmuration: A Manifesto of Shared Habitat, created through a flow of thought and reaction informed by lectures, research, readings, and discussions. This manifesto serves as our 'red thread' – a thread we hope will extend beyond the exhibition space, standing as an invitation: To shift to see, the share, To live thoughtfully and with intention In a world that holds space for all.

DEMOCRACY

Demos: the people. But who are the people? Let the trees vote, the rivers speak, Let there be a parliament of the non-human.

BIODIVERSITY

In the myriad forms of life, resilience thrives. A forest is not its tallest tree, Nor a meadow its brightest bloom. Life is a tapestry, frayed by ignorance, Rewoven through understanding.

THE ABSURDITY OF ACCEPTING THE STATUS QUO

A crow tethered, a river strangled by concrete- Would you accept this for yourself ? The absurdity lies not in their plight, But in our refusal to see.

SOMETIMES, IT TAKES A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE…

Revisit the wonder of childhood, When you were the fox, the sparrow, the fish. What did you learn then? Reimagine the world through that lens.

COLLISION OF WORLDS

A bird meets glass, A fox meets road, The world we have built collides with theirs. These are not accidents; these are design flaws. Remove the barriers, confront the absurdity of inaction- And choose to act.

ANIMAL-AIDED DESIGN

The beaver builds, the bird weaves, the ant architects. Create with them, not for them. Learn from their genius.

UMWELT

The spider spins a cosmos in silk; The whale sings ballads to unfathomed depths. Each being lives in its own Umwelt, A private world we cannot fully enter. Yet, we can stand at the edge, In awe, in humility, in reverence. and learn to glimpse the infinite.

PRESSURE COOKER OF EVOLUTION

Cities: petri dishes of unintended consequence. The pigeon survives, the swallow vanishes Each intervention ripples outward- Consider the weight of consideration.

COHABITATION

Not for us, not for them-but with. Not mastery, but symbiosis: To leave space for the swallow's flight, To honor the fox at dusk, To share our cities with the life we overlook, And to recognize ourselves within the web of life.