By Kimberley Mok.

From disease to loss of habitats, bat populations around the world are declining fast due to serious pressures. As part of her Ants of the Prairie project, University of Buffalo architecture professor Joyce Hwang is one concerned designer stepping up to the challenge to mitigate these factors, creating a series of sculptural bat habitats that she dubs the “Bat Cloud.”

Suspended midair and stuffed full of soil, plants and bat guano to attract insect prey, these bulbous, artificial bat lairs are made out of steel mesh, insulation, plastic and aluminum. The top part of the pendulous structures act as the roosting area, while the lower part collects the bats’ feces. There’s plenty of convenient openings for the bats to enter and exit, while also offering lucky onlookers a glimpse of bat behaviour.

Currently being shown as part of the U.S. exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Hwang says on Designboom that the aim was to draw attention to these oft-overlooked but vitally important creatures:…

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