DIGIHABS

MARTHA CLIFFORD
MICHAEL LINDQUIST
TYLER SWANSON

RESEARCH
LARP 740/ Topics in Digital Media: Digital Fabrication/ Vandersys
“IN CONSIDERING THE
DIVERSITY OF WILDLIFE IN
THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, ONE
MUST CONSIDER THE DIVERSITY
OF HABITATS.”
- LOWELL W. ADAMS, URBAN WILDLIFE HABITATS

our goal is to develop a digitally fabricated prototype

for a system to be deployed on philadelphia’s vacant
lots for the purpose of creating viable habitats for
urban wildlife.

DIGIHABS
water

in order to create diverse habitats for the selected

species a variety of water conditions must be enabled.
this function of the system will simultaneously address
storm-water management issues in the philadelphia
region.

DIGIHABS
flora

the system must also accomodate a variety of growing

conditions for plants. the selected species will
require a heterogenous planting pattern for food and
shelter.

DIGIHABS
exposure

we aim to provide sheltered conditions as well as

exposed areas to provide for the panoply of animal
behaviors.

DIGIHABS
selected species

treeswallow little brownbat swallowtail butterfly garter snake

DIGIHABS
treeswallow/needs

water flora exposure

open water woodland edge sheltered

2” dia.
openings

DIGIHABS
treeswallow/habitats

1 2 3

DIGIHABS
swallowtail butterfly/needs

water flora exposure

mud puddles meadow open

goldenrod basking
coneflower areas
bergamot and
wildflowers small dia.
openings

DIGIHABS
swallowtail butterfly/habitats

1 2 3

DIGIHABS
little brownbat/needs

water flora exposure

open water insect sheltered

attracting colonial
plants cavities

DIGIHABS
little brownbat/habitats

1 2
(looking up)

DIGIHABS
garter snake/needs

water flora exposure

dry conditions grassy cover sheltered

and water edge 1” dia.
opening

DIGIHABS
garter snake/habitats

1 2

DIGIHABS
other examples of fab habs

1 2 3

DIGIHABS
materials
biodegradable weed barriers

cement soil mixes/ cement paper mixes

crushed brick

wood wool

cast straw slurry

soilon

DIGIHABS
materials

biodegradable weed barriers

newspaper and cardboard can be reused as weed-barriers and molds for

casting. these materials are easily acquired and suitable for laser-
cutting.

DIGIHABS
materials

cement soil mixes

soil can be mixed with cement and cast with a gradient of mixture
recipes with a range of stability/durability and porosity. this range
of materials could potentially be used to set up a variety of growing
conditions and a variety of stabilities.

DIGIHABS
materials

cement paper mixes

similarly cement can be mixed with paper pulp allowing for the reuse
of existing materials and the potential for a partially biodegradable
stabilization unit.

DIGIHABS
materials

crushed brick

brick is an abundant remnant material on philadelphia’s vacant lots.

when crushed it makes an ideal growing medium for green-roofs and could
also be used as a growing medium in a vacant lot growing system.

DIGIHABS
materials

wood wool (excelsior)

wood wool is a renewable natural material produced from wood shavings.
it has been used in erosion control mats. it could potentially be
molded on a fabricated template and the mats could potentially be
laser-cut.

DIGIHABS
materials

cast straw slurry

this material is composed of water, liquefied straw and additives.

it can be cast and used in a variety of applications. it is a
biodegradable material.

DIGIHABS
materials

soilon

this material is made from polylactic acid derived from plant starch.
this material is suitable for laser cutting and could be used as a
temporary weed barrier.

DIGIHABS
technologies
casting

paper molds / straw molds

soil imprinting

template cutting

DIGIHABS
technologies

casting

using digitally fabricated molds, biodegradable materials can be cast

and formed into useful configurations.

DIGIHABS
technologies

paper molds

paper can be easily cut, folded, and shaped to produce useful molds for
casting.

DIGIHABS
technologies

straw molds

straw mixes can possibly be vacuum formed to produce useful molds for
casting biodegradable materials.

DIGIHABS
technologies

soil imprinting

using digitally fabricated templates, the ground can be imprinted with

useful and decorative patterns.

DIGIHABS
technologies

template cutting

templates can be digitally fabricated and used to dictate cutting

patterns on existing concrete slabs. cutting can be either done
mechanically or chemically.

DIGIHABS
DIGIHABS

biodegradable cement horizontal

weed-barrier/mold + soil mix + to vertical

we’re hoping to develop a mold that can be cut from newspaper and
cardboard for use in casting a gradient of cement soil mixtures and
deploying these modules in a configuration that morphs from the
horizontal to the vertical to provide for a variety of habitats for
urban wildlife.
DIGIHABS