@theretheirtheyreshow @ba.design.gold
18-22 JUNE 2026
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
Unit 8, 133 Copeland Rd, London, SE15 3SN
| FoxCode: The London Fox Futures Project |
| Youyou Chen |
The UK government has never officially classified foxes as “pests”, yet on London borough council websites, they are placed on pest lists. This project begins with this institutional ambiguity, revealing the logic of “conditional coexistence” in the city.
Cats share similar urban behaviours with foxes but receive vastly different treatment. Referring to the much higher social tolerance enjoyed by cats, the project, under the name of the fictional organisation FoxCode, launches a pilot programme in Greenwich. Through gene editing, it aims to blend the appearance of foxes with that of cats, granting foxes a cat‑like urban identity while also enhancing their disease resistance. This would improve their public image and quality of life, using human emotions to fight for a more stable and dignified existence for foxes in the city.
FoxCode thus raises a fundamental question: In a human‑centred city, what truly guarantees an animal’s quality of life, scientific assessment, legal frameworks, or inherent human emotions and aesthetics?
Cats share similar urban behaviours with foxes but receive vastly different treatment. Referring to the much higher social tolerance enjoyed by cats, the project, under the name of the fictional organisation FoxCode, launches a pilot programme in Greenwich. Through gene editing, it aims to blend the appearance of foxes with that of cats, granting foxes a cat‑like urban identity while also enhancing their disease resistance. This would improve their public image and quality of life, using human emotions to fight for a more stable and dignified existence for foxes in the city.
FoxCode thus raises a fundamental question: In a human‑centred city, what truly guarantees an animal’s quality of life, scientific assessment, legal frameworks, or inherent human emotions and aesthetics?
Gene editing
Urban animals
Coexistence
Thanks, Thanks, Thanks