Air Bee n' Bee

Air Bee n' Bee

If you think about how many living creatures that live on our planet, it may seem a little strange that it's so incredibly rare that we create any design that improves the lives of other living beings than humans. For the 2020 SE exhibition, Rasmus Fenhann followed a trend that is currently underway to create bee hotels that are good nesting boxes for wild bees.

Fenhann's contribution is more of a luxury hotel, as he think that other beings also occasionally deserve the same luxury that we humans surround ourselves with. The hotel is created in teak, mahogany, walnut and oak and it has a choice of room sizes for different species of wild bees. Each guest has its own private entrance in front of the hotel.

The geometric pattern appeals to the bees' own hexagonal universe and the composition of the wooden blocks makes it easier to clean the rooms after use.  The hotel can be adjusted on its round pillar according to orientation of the sun and it can be placed close to the flowers that the bee guests like best.

The theme of the SE 2020 exhibition was "Illusion" and with this hotel Fenhann have used the different colours of wood to create a geometric illusion that has been used for centuries in architecture, art and cabinetmaking.

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Podcast interview

https://boligpodcasten.dk/air-bee-n-bee/

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Proces

The nesting blocks are assembled and organized in a geometric pattern creating a three-dimensional illusion while also referring to the bees' own hexagonal universe. The blocks are not glued and can be taken out and cleaned if necessary.

The project was supported by the Danish Art Foundation.

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Inspiration

Geometric illusion has been used for millennia in many different cultures. Rasmus Fenhann drew inspiration, in part, from patterned parquet flooring and from the Japanese technique of Yosegi-Zaiku.

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