
The Animal Estates Snag Tower was a prototype for a collective model home designed to accommodate six animal clients that would otherwise live in a snag, or standing dead tree, in the park. The work is part of Fritz Haeg’s ongoing Animal Estates project, which proposes the strategic reintroduction of native animals into our cities through regional events, publications, exhibitions, and estate designs. For this Animal Estate, Haeg consulted with the Presidio’s natural resource team and other specialists to identify the native wildlife “clients” best suited for the model home. The structure features interior nesting cavities for the Pygmy Nuthatch and Bumblebee, a cantilevered perch for the Black Phoebe, louvered crevices for the Yuma Myotis bat, cover logs for the California Slender Salamander, and a hibernaculum or winter residence for the Coast Garter Snake.
- Installation ViewsFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique DeschainesFritz Haeg, Animal Estates Snag Tower, 2010 (installation view); photo: Monique Deschaines
Fritz Haeg explores the uses and identities of public and private space through community-based projects involving land, animals, structures, and people. His Edible Estates project transformed the front lawns of suburban residences into productive vegetable gardens; Animal Estates, his follow-up project, is composed of habitats for animals displaced by human activity. Its first iteration, Animal Estates 1.0, was featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial. In 2010 Haeg was awarded the Prix de Rome, which provides a fellowship to the American Academy in Rome.