WATCH: Artist's mirror-covered house becomes a 'huge trap' for birds

An artist’s mirror-curved house has become an attraction in Swiss Alps but the spectacular structure is also being slammed as a ‘huge trap’ for the birds.

According to the details, American artist Doug Aitken constructed Mirage Gstaad, a mirror-covered house, to reflect the shifting seasons of the Alpine landscape.

 

“I saw Mirage as a human-scale lens that the viewer would enter into, and in the process, they would become the work,” creator Aitken told Dezeen about his design.

However, it has also caused a lot of problems for local birds and is now being termed as a “huge trap”. The structure is quite striking to the eye but can easily be missed due to its reflective surface.

The house is located in an Alpine meadow above Gstaad, Switzerland and its pavilion mirrors the surrounding scenery all year long.

But bird lovers around the world have not been impressed with the shiny structure, with many expressing concerns that it can cause serious injuries to small flyers.

The creator, however, said that proper measures had been implemented to ensure the building was visible to birds.

“In building Mirage Gstaad installation teams worked with Vogelwarte Sempach (Swiss Bird Protection Society) and added horizontal black lines installed every three centimetres on the facade to counter the distraction from the reflective surfaces for migrating and breeding birds, and to make the building visible to them,” he added.

Despite the assurance, many have said the building is a threat to birds and must undergo changes.