Animal Architecture

A book launch and conversation with Paul Dobraszczyk

A book launch and conversation with Paul Dobraszczyk, author of Animal Architecture: Beasts, Buildings and Us.

23RD MARCH 2023 | BARTLETT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, UCL

Any building can be inhabited by nonhumans. We’ve seen spiders spinning their webs in dark corners, and perhaps sparrows nesting under roof tiles. But how do architects think about animals in their designs? How do we factor them into our use of the built environment? Do we think about how selective we are in choosing which animals to keep in and which to keep out?


Paul Dobraszczyk has written a book that imagines new ways of thinking about architecture and the more-than-human. Constructing what one reviewer describes as “an architecture of astonishment,” he shows how we might design with animals and the other lives that share our spaces. Animal Architecture is a provocative exploration of how to think about building in a world where humans and other animals are already entangled, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Dr Dobraszczyk explains the thinking behind his new book, and is joined by two panelists: Tom Dyckhoff, a historian, writer and broadcaster on architecture, geographies, design and cities who teaches the history and theory of cities & architecture at University College London & Central Saint Martins; and Professor Nathalie Pettorelli, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London. Moderated by Professor Christopher Newfield, ISRF Director of Research. 

This event – co-organised with The Bartlett School of Architecture – is the twenty-third in the ISRF’s series of Book Launches.