Clean Pigeon
This project uses the pigeon as a medium to critically explore the intersection of urban ecology, social order, and the stigmatization of non-human species. Set in a speculative future where climate change accelerates the spread of zoonotic diseases, pigeons are imagined as viral threats. In response, a fictional London government initiates the “Clean Pigeon Project,” aiming to transform infected birds into aseptic organisms.
Through the framework of speculative design, the project questions whether fear of virus-carrying pigeons and the pursuit of urban control might reach an extreme. By designing fictional props and pigeon management devices, it invites viewers to reflect: Can such systems truly ease public fear, or do they reveal new forms of subtle, institutional violence carried out in the name of public safety?
Perhaps this is a moment to reconsider our attitudes toward pigeons—and the non-human lives that share our cities.