Pairing art and research to bring nature to urban environments

A woman sits with binoculars next to a sculpture designed to attract birds

The Biophilia Treehouse is a public arts initiative created by UCLA’s Counterforce Lab, a research center led by Department of Design Media Arts Professor Rebeca Méndez. Each structure is built using native trees and plants, creating vital habitat for some of Los Angeles’s most threatened bird species.The Biophelia Treehouse just one example of many UCLA research initiatives that invite us to imagine—and build—a future where art, science, and community work together to restore urban ecosystems.

The vision is to build Treehouses across Los Angeles to weave avian corridors through the city, stitching together travel routes between disconnected habitats and ecosystems while inviting public interaction.

Developed in collaboration with Professors Pamela Yeh (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), Elizabeth DeLoughrey (English/Environmental Humanities), and Julia Koerner (Architecture and Urban Design), the project embodies true cross-disciplinary innovation. It received UCLA’s 2021 Transdisciplinary Research Acceleration Grant, highlighting its role as both an artwork and a research endeavor.

Portrait of Celine Parrenas Shimizu on campus at UCLA

New UCLA Theater, Film and Television Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu Faces Challenges Head-On: ‘When More Diverse Voices Are Represented, the Greater the Art.’