Earlier this year, we saw a series of modernist birdhouses that nod to Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. It was the work of Chirp, a father-daughter design workshop that has redefined small-scale architecture. Now, the duo are back with a series of bird feeders inspired by artists including Yayoi Kusama and Mark Rothko.
No.3 Calder bird feeder
The studio is based in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where co-founders Nima Yadollahpour and his daughter Mina wanted to bring elegant form and function to a smaller scale, and create design-conscious homes for the discerning contemporary bird. Now, the new collection of bird feeders extends this same curiosity into the world of art.
Discover the collection of bird feeders inspired by artists
No.8 Miró bird feeder
‘After working with architecture as the starting point for our birdhouses, art felt like a natural place to explore next,’ shares Nima Yadollahpour. ‘I’ve always been interested in the relationship between art and architecture, and the bird feeder gave us a completely different kind of object to work with.’
He explains that with the feeders, they could think about colour, geometry, repetition, mass, positive and negative space, and then ask how those ideas could become something functional for birds.
No.6 Bontecou bird feeder
‘What was also really interesting to me was the idea that the birds themselves could become a dynamic part of the piece,' adds Yadollahpour. 'Unlike a static object, the feeder is constantly changing as different birds arrive, perch, feed, and move through it. Their colour, movement, and behaviour bring the composition to life in a way we could never completely control or design in advance. In that sense, the birds become part of the art itself.’
No. 4 LeWitt bird feeder
Each bird feeder's design borrows themes from the artist's oeuvre: there are nods to Piet Mondrian’ intersecting planes, Yayoi Kusama’s circular reliefs and repetition, and Alexander Calder’s layered forms, while a modular system of cubes and open frames forms the Sol LeWitt-inspired bird feeder. The collection also includes feeders inspired by Mark Rothko, Lee Bontecou, Louise Nevelson, and Joan Miró.
No.2 Kusama
‘We were looking for artists with very distinct visual languages that could be translated into three-dimensional objects without simply copying a particular work,’ Yadollahpour told Wallpaper*. 'Some, like Mondrian and LeWitt, offered very clear ideas about geometry and structure. Calder allowed us to explore positive and negative space. Kusama led us toward repetition and pattern, while Rothko was more about proportion, depth, and restraint. Bontecou, Nevelson, and Miró each opened up very different possibilities in terms of form, texture, and composition. The goal was for every feeder to feel completely different from the next, while still belonging to the same collection.’
No.6 Nevelson bird feeder
The duo explain that although they begin with a particular aspect of an artist’s work, the feeder still has to work for birds. They made sure it holds seed, provides places to land and feed, withstands the weather, and is practical to maintain. ’Of course, seeing birds actually use them is incredibly satisfying.’
No.5 Rothko bird feeder
With a collection of architectural birdhouses, and now artist-inspired birdfeeders, Chirp sees this as an ever-evolving project. ‘Right now we think of the feeders as falling into a Profile Series and a Relief Series, and we’re hoping to introduce a Mobile Series in the near future. There are still a lot of artists and ideas we’d love to explore.’
Discover the full collection of bird feeders at chirpbirdhouses.com