Border walls ‘pose threat to animals’
DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM DISNEYLAND, A DIOR FASHION SHOW AND A VICTORIAN BREAD PLATE, THIS ONCE STANDARD EDWARDIAN SEMI SHOWS WHAT’S POSSIBLE WHEN YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD, SAYS EMMA WELLS
MAN-made borders are stopping hundreds of animal species adapting to climate change, a study warns.
A third of mammals and birds will need to find more hospitable habitats in other countries by 2070 due to rising temperatures, say Durham University researchers who identified 20,000 miles of fortified frontiers.
The one between the US and Mexico could obstruct the movement of 122 mammal species, including jaguars, opossums and skunks.
Sloth bears, pangolins, and large spotted civets could be affected by the India-Myanmar border, while the China-Russia border could threaten Tibetan antelopes and desert hares.
Urging more co-operation, Prof Stephen Willis said: ‘Species all over the planet are on the move. Borders that are fortified with walls and fences pose a serious threat to any species that can’t get across.’
WHEN Mat Barnes’s two-year-old daughter Aurie goes to nursery, she tells her teachers she has a mountain on top of her house. ‘I don’t think they believe her,’ says Mat, the founder of Shoreditch-based architecture firm CAN. ‘But it’s actually true. And because of lockdowns, Aurie hasn’t been to many other kids’ houses. I think she thinks everyone has got one.’
For now, Aurie has no idea quite how unique her home is. The ‘mountain’ to which she refers is actually the extraordinary roofline of the extension Mat recently added to their four-bedroom Sydenham home – inspired, he says, by the Matterhorn Bobsleds rollercoaster at Disneyland, California, with dramatic peaks crafted from aluminium foam.
‘I loved the idea of elevating something seemingly really heavy atop a skeletal frame, and an American theme park is as good an influence as any,’ says Mat. ‘I don’t see why architectural references need to always be high-brow. I like to take them from popular culture, too.’ In fact, over the last two years, Mat has renovated and redesigned the entire Edwardian semi, drawing on an eclectic range of influences.
These include everything from a Victorian bread plate by Pugin, the 1996 film Trainspotting, a Dior show staged in Paris in 2015, high-tech 1970s Hopkins House, in Hampstead, and McDonald’s Golden Arches.
The result is startlingly theatrical, with areas of intense dark and light created throughout the house, a blue-and-black speckled kitchen with worktop and cabinet fronts made from recycled chopping boards and milk bottle tops, and a palette of hypnotically intense colours – with not a lick of Farrow & Ball in sight. There’s Valspar’s teal Keep Calm on the kitchen brickwork and Dulux’s blue Marine Waters covering the living room’s ceiling and walls. Elsewhere, the staircase sings in a mix of RAL’s dahlia yellow and pastel green, while bright orange, traffic-light red and even a blush pink are added to the mix.
‘Who’s to say which colours clash?’ Mat questions. ‘I think if you love them, you should just go ahead and use them. We’re surrounded by so many colours and textures in the outside world that to me it feels natural to bring them all inside, too.’