The Bird Bill utilizes unconventional mapping and drawing techniques inspired by the book Terra Forma: A Book of Speculative Maps, drawing the landscape as a dynamic, living process. It examines an overlooked floodplain in Columbus, OH, an indeterminate area variously mapped as vacant, floodway, park space, or absent from maps entirely. The area is largely inaccessible to people, and has become a hotspot for waterfowl and migratory birds. Its ecology is shaped by subtle changes in topography and flood frequency, resulting in a gradient of habitat niches. 

I designed a series of earthworks and installations that engage with the fluctuations on site, holding on to more water in drought and providing habitat during more frequent and severe flood events. Perch installations made from reclaimed site materials would invite birds to rest on the earthworks and help fertilize and seed them, shaping the process of ecological succession and creating spaces by and for the birds. A series of overlooks and bird blinds along the trail would invite people to pause, rest, and observe this unique, fluctuating landscape.