S.W.I.F.T code
Permanent sculpture
Cambridge

Swifts are a species of bird that travel up from central Africa to Europe every year following the sun and rains and the insects that these bring. They start to arrive in the UK in May and as such people associate them with the coming of summer. Swift numbers in the UK have been steadily decreasing and a lack of nesting sites has been attributed as one of the causes. Newly built architecture provide less opportunity for swifts to nest where as older buildings tend to have more eaves and holes that swifts like. The sculpture aims to both highlight these issues, provide a home for up to 150 swifts and showcases the spectacle of the swifts flying at speed into the holes of the structure. Throughout their lives they never land on the ground level as they are essentially gliders, the structure is projected 10 metres high to give the swifts the space to regain themselves if they miss the entrance. The boxes are held within a complex metal grid system providing gaps that act like a termite mound providing a natural aeration to cool the structure. Finally swifts can see a large spectrum of colour and so each pixel is like a code of colour for the swifts.