Cloud Cities: Species of Spaces and Other Pieces* is a large-scale sculpture developed in consultation with ornithologists and wildlife organisations. First installed in the Royal Parks in the context of Tomás Saraceno’s exhibition at Serpentine Galleries, Web(s) of Life, the sculpture provides specially-designed habitats for a range of animals, both native species and visitors to the park, some of which are in decline or in danger of extinction. The sculptures stand as meditations on biodiversity that imagine alternative models for interspecies encounters: nests and water baths for birds, houses for hedgehogs, objects conceived for dogs, nooks for invertebrates, and steps for squirrels to climb.

The sculptures’ forms are inspired by cumulonimbus clouds, more commonly known as thunderclouds, which forewarn of stormy weather and occur more frequently as a result of climate change. These works are part of Saraceno’s long-standing project Cloud Cities. This proposal for an alternative form of urbanism brings together constellations of geodesic modules and is inspired by principles within the universe that affect the groupings of cosmic clouds and soap bubbles. Saraceno asks what forms of assembly and urban architecture might emerge when large cities are not only built from a human perspective.