Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art

Paintings from

Architecture by Birds and Insects

A Natural Art

Peggy Macnamara

Birds and insects are nature’s premier architects, using a dizzying array of talents to build functional homes in which to live, reproduce, and care for their young. Recycling sticks, branches, grass, and mud to construct their shelters, they are undoubtedly the originators of “green architecture.” A visual celebration of these natural feats of engineering and ingenuity, Architecture by Birds and Insects allows readers a peek inside a wide range of nests, offering a rare opportunity to get a sense of the materials and methods used to build them. Peggy Macnamara’s paintings give the tiniest engineers their rightful moment in the spotlight, and in so doing increases awareness and encourages the protection of birds, insects, and their habitats.

The thumbnails below are details from six paintings from the book; click on each thumbnail to see the full image.

Paintings from
Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art

 

Copyright notice: Reproduced from Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art published by the University of Chicago Press. © by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. No use allowed without permission.


Peggy Macnamara
Architecture by Birds and Insects: A Natural Art
Illustrated by Peggy Macnamara. With contributions by John Bates and James H. Boone and with a foreword by David Quammen.
©2008, 164 pages, 56 color plates, 9×6
Cloth $25.00 ISBN: 9780226500973

For information on purchasing the book—from bookstores or here online—please go to the webpage for Architecture by Birds and Insects.


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