What's your idea?
The Bird House is a walk-in aviary in the form of the phantom of a terraced house, nestled into one of London's many late-Victorian railway terraces. It tells the story of Londoners' relationship with domestic, agricultural and wild birds.
At first glance, it's a surreal and whimsical intervention - something romantic and extraordinary in the midst of the everyday - but it's also many other things. It's an educational space dealing with human interaction with birds, it's a hobbyist's den, it's an architectural dissection, and it's an experiment in integrating nature into the way we design and build our cities.
When were the first seeds of the idea sown?
I'd been working on another project idea, the Museum of Migration - a museum which itself migrates - where each new iteration dealt with a different aspect of human and animal migration. I imagined one exhibition about the migration of birds, taking place within a pet shop, with birds flying around the cafe/exhibition space. With that project on hold, the avian concept gradually coalesced with my interests in urban ecosystems and suburban landscapes, and this idea was the outcome.
Who have you invited to dinner in A Room for London to help develop the idea?
A medley of influential characters: critics, facilitators, twitchers, breeders. It's a project that touches on many different fields - architecture, art, aviculture, regeneration, ecology, etc - and I'm hoping for an interesting symphony of voices.
What single thing would you like to happen that evening to help your idea get off the ground?
Convincing seven important people that this strange and charming project is ambitious and feasible and I'm the right person to make it happen.
How would you describe your relationship to London?
Beckton, E6, where my parents still live, is an odd place to grow up - there's a curious absence of history, yet I remember thinking of it as the centre of the world (it's the centre of the Eastenders opening sequence anyway). As a teenager I resented it, but on reflection I think that it's given me a very particular (and perhaps a bit peculiar) sense of the relationship between the landscape and the built environment.
How are you feeling about spending the night on board?
The Roi des Belges is a fanciful and fantastical project and I'll be up into the early hours reading books and watching the colour of the Thames change through the night. Also, I like objects and I'm looking forward to appreciating the doubtlessly exquisite craftsmanship on board.