12.14.2009

TED Fellowship 2010

Organizers of the TED Conference announced today the 25 TED Fellows who will participate in TED2010, the annual conference in Long Beach, CA. The TED2010 Fellows reflect both geographic and discipline diversity. From Israel to Brazil to Malaysia, these innovators excel in the technology, entertainment, design, science, film, art, music, entrepreneurship and nonprofit worlds. The group also includes filmmakers, engineers, artists, scientists and musicians. TED Fellow: Mitchell Joachim, Architect and co-founder of Terreform ONE + Terrefuge, non-profit design groups that promote ecological design in cities. see here

12.10.2009

MICA Lecture

Nationally-Known Artists and Historians at MICA: MITCHELL JOACHIM, FUTURE CITIES BY MASSIVE DESIGN Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) Dec. 9, Brown Center, Baltimore, MD.

12.05.2009

Global Warning: Artists on Climate Change at BAM

Part of the 2009 Next Wave Festival Sat, Dec 5 at 5pm at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) In conjunction with Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica, composer/writer DJ Spooky’s sound and visual exploration of the Antarctic, Global Warning: Artists on Climate Change brings together three artists for a conversation about the climate crisis and its emergence as a theme in the arts. DJ Spooky joins ecological designer/architect Mitchell Joachim, selected by Rolling Stone as one of "The 100 People Who Are Changing America;" and MacArthur Award recipient Julie Mehretu, known for her “singular and poetic” (The New York Times) map-like paintings that challenge traditional notions of geography and space, for an engaging discussion moderated by NPR and BBC contributor Tania Ketenjian. http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1275

11.23.2009

Heeb Magazine, Grave New World: Mitchell Joachim

Heeb Issue #22 : Feature Interview by Mary Block, special thanks to Oliver Noble. We recently sat down with four modern-day prophets—specializing in everything from the World Wide Web to the fearsome Mayan Gods — hoping that their outlook on the future would be different from that of there predecessors; http://www.heebmagazine.com/ Daniel Pinchbeck Howard Bloom Mitchell Joachim – "Do you know what one million more trees will do to carbon loading in the atmosphere? Nothing." Douglas Rushkoff

11.20.2009

One Prize Design Competition

Introducing the One Prize: Award $10,000
CALLING ALL FUTURE-FORWARD ARCHITECTS, URBAN DESIGNERS, PLANNERS, ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, ARTISTS, STUDENTS AND INDIVIDUALS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS: How would you reinvent the American garden?
Select Jury:
Please see updates and further information at www.oneprize.org

Architecture of Change 2

Architecture of Change 2: Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment, Editors: K. Feireiss, L. Feireiss, Terrefuge, pp. 220-225, Gestalten, Berlin 2009

11.11.2009

10.18.2009

Ecology Design NOW at Center for Architecture

Class: Ecology Design Now w/ Terreform ONE The Public School, Telic Arts Exchange at Center for Architecture A.I.A. NY http://nyc.thepublicschool.org/class/1420 Special Thanks: Todd Rouhe, Maria IbaƱez de Sendadiano, IdS/R architecture

10.09.2009

Ecogram II at GSAPP Columbia University

please see www.ecogram.org Special Thanks to Mark Wigley and Benjamin Prosky Monday, October 12, 2009 at 6:30 pm Invisible Cities. Innovation and Complexity in Informal Settlements Roundtable hosted by Ioanna Theocharopoulou + Mitchell Joachim, (GSAPP and Parsons the New School for Design) Urban Think Tank, Alfredo Brillembourg + Hubert Klumpner / GSAPP Margaret Crawford, Professor of Architecture, College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley Teddy Cruz, Professor in Public Culture, Visual Arts Department, UC San DiegoChristian Werthmann, Associate Professor, Program Director in Landscape Architecture, Harvard University Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:30 pm Informal Urban Economics in the Global South Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor of Economics, Columbia University Wednesday October 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm Climate Change and Human Rights Bianca Jagger, Human Rights advocate, Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador, Chair of the World Future Council. Followed by exhibit opening: ECO-REDUX at 8:30 pmCurated by Lydia Kalipoliti, Avery Hall, 2nd Floor Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 7-9 pmSafari 7 Reading Room, Exhibition opening, Co-curated by Glen Cummings, Janette Kim, and Kate Orff. at Studio-X, 180 Varick Street , Ste. 1610 Friday, 10/16 from 1-3 PM Avery Hall, Room 114, Columbia University Roundtable Discussion & Debate: ECOGRAM II: What is Green Learning at GSAPP? With Glen Cummings, Janette Kim, Kate Orff, Mitchell Joachim and Ioanna Theorcharopoulou and others Hosted and Organized by GREEN BUILDERS @ Columbia TBA Greening the City of Chicago Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago Hosted by Dean Mark Wigley

Homeway: The Future Street at Pratt Gallery NY

10.06.2009

Reshaping Cities on CNBC

The Business of Innovation hosted by Maria Bartiromo RESHAPING CITIES - Premiered Monday, October 5th Each year, we add the equivalent of seven New Yorks to the planet, creating strains our ageing cities are struggling to handle. The intelligent city won't just survive under this strain - it will flourish. Touching upon public safety, traffic, “self-aware” buildings, and smart grids, this show introduces the systems that will make the cities of the future both successful and sustainable. Thought Leaders: Mitchell Joachim, PhD, Urban Designer and Architect Paul Romer, PhD, Senior Fellow at Stanford University. Michael Chernoff, former US Secretary of Homeland Security. Special Thanks: Terry Murphy, Jessica Gerstle, Sarah Orenstein. see video: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1285639918&play=1#

9.19.2009

Fab Tree Hab: Garten + Landschaft cover


Review of Harvard GSD Ecological Urbanism conference:
 pp. 10-13, Sept. 2009.
Special thanks; JĆ¼rgen Weidinger, Gesa Loschwitz, Peter Zƶch, Redaktion Garten + Landschaft

9.13.2009

Sustainable cities are the solution

Guardian UK, Sunday 13 September by David Lepeska ...a constellation of designers, architects and academics gathered at a conference on "ecological urbanism" at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design earlier this year. Mitchell Joachim, who teaches architecture and design at Columbia University and was selected by Wired magazine as one of 15 people Obama should listen to, presented his vision for a collapsible and stackable electric city car, which would hang at public recharging stations, available for shared use. He also explained "meat tectonics". Aiming to use meat proteins developed in a lab as building material, Joachim presented a digital rendering of an armadillo-shaped, kidney-coloured home. "It's very ugly, we know that," he said. "We're not sure what a meat house is supposed to look like." guardian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/13/cities-carbon-emissions-environment-urban-planning

9.09.2009

IMC Panel: Responsive City

IMC (Interactive Multimedia Culture) Exposition Responsive City: New media in urban planning and architecture Paul Elston, Pres., Riverside South Planning Corp., Prof. Hunter Ken Farmer, Project for Public Spaces Mitchell Joachim, Founder, Terreform ONE, Prof., Columbia University at The StudioIMC Lab & Gallery95 Morton St 7th Floor, New York City http://www.imcexpo.net/

9.05.2009

Popular Mechanics: How to Fix Commuter Traffic

12 Current and Future Fixes for Transportation Woes by Lisa Merolla, Popular Mechanics Idea for the Future: Mitchell Joachim, an urban designer known for his innovative ideas, has dreamed up a street concept that could direct cars away from walkers. He proposes using radio-frequency identification (FRID) and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technologies to sense pedestrians. For example, he says, "If a little girl drops a ball that rolls into the street, the pixel based sensors will reconfigure traffic flow and create a safety zone around the girl and ball path." http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4327634.html?page=2

Talk with David Byrne on "Bicycle Diaries"

The immensely prolific David Byrne speaks with guests on Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around; 1. Civic Leader: Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. 2. Urban Theorist: Mitchell Joachim, Co-Founder of Terrefuge & Terreform ONE; on faculty at Columbia University and Parsons. 3. Bicycle Advocate: Paul Steely White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives. New York, NY: 22 September 2009 @7pm, Barnes & Noble Union Square http://www.davidbyrne.com/art/books/bicycle_diaries/index.php

8.21.2009

Pratt Manhattan Gallery: Design and Sustainability

Design Jazz: Improvisations on the Urban Street September 25 - November 7, 2009 Public reception and “Pratt Falls” performances, Friday, October 9, 6–8 p.m. 144 West 14th Street, 2nd floor New York, NY 10011 Inspired by the newly created department of Academic Sustainability at Pratt Institute, this exhibition in two parts will document both theoretical and creative approaches to the design of urban streets by invited guests Amy Guggenheim, artist, writer and professor, Pratt Institute; Mitchell Joachim, architect, designer and co-founder Terreform One; and Leon Reid IV, street artist, teacher, and Pratt alumnus, as well as document the process of a local realized project. http://www.pratt.edu/about_pratt/visiting_pratt/exhibitions/pratt_manhattan_gallery/

Carnegie Mellon's Miller Gallery: Terreform 1

Artists' Schemes for a Fantastic Future
Guest curated by Andrea Grover
Aug. 28 - Dec. 6, 2009
Artists: Open_Sailing, Stephanie Smith, Mitchell Joachim/ Terreform ONE

TerreFarm: Workshop Update

Maria Aiolova, Vito Acconnci, Mitchell Joachim, Christian Hubert

TerreFarm see more here http://terrefarm.blogspot.com/

8.20.2009

Avant-Garde Agriculture, Architecture Meet in B’klyn

Futurists’ Workshop Attracts Students From All Over World By Stephen Rex Brown Brooklyn Daily Eagle BROOKLYN — When Dr. Mitchell Joachim appeared on the Colbert Report he was only a short subway ride from his laboratory, where he and a group of fellow futurists envision a world where New Yorkers travel by jet pack, live in tree houses, and wear wristwatches made of in-vitro pig meat. Despite the short trip, Joachim’s moment in the spotlight was a world apart from the Metropolitan Exchange Building on Flatbush Avenue, where he hatches the provocative ideas that earned him a spot on the 2008 “Smart List” in Wired magazine. Now, Joachim’s non-profit group, Terreform One, is allowing a group of 40 students from all over the globe to revel in their world of apparently limitless possibilities, where ideas for urban agriculture seem out of a science fiction novel. http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=30264 see more at TerreFarm: http://terrefarm.blogspot.com/

7.17.2009

Tree Museum Opens in Bronx

100 trees give voice to 100 perspectives featured in the Grand Concourse's TREE MUSEUM. Irish artist Katie Holten created this public art project to celebrate the communities and ecosystems along this 100 year-old boulevard. Visitors can listen in on local stories and the intimate lives of trees offered by current and former residents: from beekeepers to rappers, historians to gardeners, school kids to scientists.
Tree No. 92 - Mitchell Joachim discusses growing homes from trees. Other speakers include; Daniel Libeskind, Toshiko Mori, and Majora Carter.

6.28.2009

Green School Alliance: National Student Climate & Conservation Congress

2009 Speakers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Douglas Brinkley Dan Ashe Virginia Burkett Kevin Doyle Mitchell Joachim Jena Meredith Shepherd Ogden David Orr Rob Watson Andrew Revkin Norman Christopher and more... Special Thanks: Mark Madison, National Conservation Training Center.

6.26.2009

French American Conference of Entrepreneurs: Clean Tech

Conference Presentations: Clean Tech Entrepreneurs; Building Resiliency from the Grass Roots Up No one is in a better position to gauge the implementation of clean tech, renewable energy, and energy efficiency programs than the entrepreneurs who work diligently to build their organization, acquire critical financial and human capital, refine their technology capabilities, market those capabilities and develop business. • Mike Beck, MJ BECK Consulting • Howard Berke, Executive Chairman and co-Founder, Konarka • Mitchell Joachim, PhD Co-Founder, Terreform 1 • Trey Taylor, President and Head of Market Development, Verdant Power Moderated by Mary Howard, Principal, Design Technologies, LLC

6.17.2009

DISCOVER covers the World Science Festival

World Science Festival: The Science of Eliminating Gridlock Robert Krulwich, Iain Couzin, Anna Nagurney, Mitchell Joachim
Special Thanks: Susan Ades Stone World Science Festival: Creating Wall-E’s World, Minus the Endless Waste Carl Zimmer, Christopher McKay, Ben Schwegler, Mitchell Joachim
Special Thanks: Anna Hall

6.16.2009

Mitchell Joachim in The WIP List

Mitchell ranked: Top 25 architects worldwide Top 5 architects in America Top 100 artists in America The WIPlist measures the presence of the most referenced people on the web:
Esperando Contenido Widget ...

6.09.2009

Jet Pack Packing: Soft Mobility in the Sky

World Science Festival -Signature Events Traffic: From Insects to Interstates Kimmel Center, NYU
Can marching ants, schooling fish, and herding wildebeests teach us something about the morning commute? Robert Krulwich, Mitchell Joachim, Anna Nagurney and Iain Couzin examine the creative and guides this unique melding of mathematics, physics, and behavioral science as sometimes counterintuitive solutions to one of the modern world's most annoying problems. Beneath WALL-E’s whimsical surface lies a grown up, cautionary tale about humanity’s relationship with the environment. Carl Zimmer hosts leading scientists Mitchell Joachim, Christopher McKay and Ben Schwegler as they explore ingenious strategies for creating a sustainable future — from 'carborexic' cities made entirely from recycled trash to how the pursuit of "green" space exploration may one day help to revolutionize waste management here on Earth.

6.03.2009

Future North screens at BEYOND MEDIA

Our video titled "Future North - Ecotariums in the North Pole", will be part of the international selection of architecture videos that will be presented to the public during VISIONS, ninth international festival for architecture and media at BEYOND MEDIA www.beyondmedia.it. The event will take place at the Stazione Leopolda in Florence, Italy, July 9-17, 2009. Our work has been selected among the over 600 submissions received from 35 countries. Future North will be featured in the event's official catalogue. Project Credits: Mitchell Joachim, Jane Marsching, Makoto Okazaki, Maria Aiolova, Melanie Fessel, Dan O'Connor. Special Thank You: Paola Ricco

5.30.2009

Evolver Town Hall Event

May 31, 2009 - 1:30-5:30 PM St. Marks Church in the Bowery, corner of 10th St. and 2nd Ave.

Beyond Survive - We Thrive! On Sunday, May 31, join a city-wide gathering of innovative individuals, local groups, nonprofits, government organizations, and local businesses who are transforming today’s challenges into visionary opportunities. Discover new ways we New Yorkers can re-imagine our beloved Big Apple, making it resilient, thriving, funky, healthy, and green.

See event schedule here

The event features workshops, panels, music, art, food, info tables, and more. Speakers will specifically address how YOU can make a direct impact in their area of expertise. Topics include: Renewable Energy & Efficiency, Green Jobs, Food Justice, Conscious Health and Living, Locally Supported Agriculture, Climate Change, DIY ART, Rooftop & Community Gardens, Media Activism, Resilient Neighborhoods & Communities, Local/Alternative Currency, and more. This event will celebrate the launch of Evolver.net, a social network for conscious collaboration, and mark the beginning of their off-line community, Evolver NYC. This is the first in a series of events to bring New York’s diverse tribes of transformation together to enact meaningful change.

Sponsored by Thrive NY and Evolver.net. http://evolver.net/event/townhall

5.19.2009

ASB Journal: Ecotransology

Mariana Serranova, "Mitchell Joachim: What is Ecotransology"
pp.59-62, ASB, 1-2/09 VI, CZ.
Photo: Klara Pucerova.

eVolo: Urban Refuse, Housing + Wall-E

Mitchell Joachim, “Housing for the 21st Century; Urban Refuse, Housing & Wall-E,” eVolo magazine, pp.62-63, issue 01, Fall. Special thanks: Carlo Aiello

5.04.2009

TAR Magazine: Philippe Starck/ Mitchell Joachim

Philippe Starck & Mitchell Joachim, "Designs for Violence, Ecology, Religion & Politics", TAR, pp. 198-209, Issue 2, Spring 2009. Special Thanks: Matt Pascarella, Alex Colard. Photos: Richard Burbridge. http://www.tar-art.com/#

5.01.2009

AND Architecture, Italy: Interview

Daria Ricchi, "100% Sustainability: Interview with Mitchell Joachim," AND, pp.84-87, no. 14, April 2009. http://www.and-architettura.it/

l'Arca: Rapid Re(f)use and More

Mitchell Joachim, "Agora: Dreams and Visions,"
l'Arca, pp. 4- 11, N° 246, April 2009.

OPEN magazine: The House You Can Eat

"Plotting Our Urban Future",
by David Lepeska
Open, May 8th 2009.

4.26.2009

Seed magazine: Thomas E. Lovejoy and Mitchell Joachim

Feature: The Seed Salon by Maywa Montenegro Portraits by Julian Dufort special thanks: Adam Bly Seed magazine, pp. 39-44, issue #22, June 2009.

4.22.2009

BrightTALK: The Carborexic City

Webcast Lecture: Mitchell Joachim, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University The Carborexic City Channel Architecture and Engineering 22 Apr 2009 Duration 30m http://www.brighttalk.com/webcasts/2839/play

Ecogram: Iron Designer at DUMBO

Thursday, April 23, 7-9 pm: Iron Designer Dumbo, Brooklyn, within Spacebuster - Meet at the Pearl Street Triangle. Please join Studio-X, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Raumlabor, Dumbo Improvement District and Inhabitat: IRON DESIGNER is a real-time, ecologically based competition based on "Iron Chef" and held within Spacebuster by Raumlabor. Who: Teams of Third-Year M.Arch students from: Columbia University GSAPP Parsons The New School for Design City College of New York Pratt Institute Meet at the Pearl Street Triangle, Dumbo, Brooklyn, inside Spacebuster Winning team will be featured on Inhabitat.com Jurors include: Joseph Grima (Storefront for Art and Architecture), Raumlabor, Olivia Chen (Inhabitat), Kate Kerrigan (Dumbo Improvement District), Richard Plunz, Ben Prosky and Sarah Williams (Columbia GSAPP), Meredith Tenhoor and Deb Johnson (Pratt Institute), Joel Towers (Parsons), Rafael Magrou (architecture critic, Paris), Amale Andraos and Dan Wood (workAC), William Menking (The Architect's Newspaper), and others to be announced. Sponsored by Studio-X/Columbia University GSAPP, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Raumlabor, Dumbo Improvement District and Inhabitat. Organized by Mitchell Joachim, Ioanna Theocharopoulou and Gavin Browning as a continuation of "ECOGRAM: The Sustainability Question." Congratulations to the winners: CITY COLLEGE NY! Halina Steiner, Brett Seamans, Perry Randazzo, Orland Rymer

4.18.2009

Architects Newspaper: Ecological Urbanism Conference at GSD

Koolhaas Flames Out, Shantytowns Inform The Architects Newspaper: 4.09.09. by Mariana Rodriguez Orte "...the conference added provocative ideas to the discourse on sustainable architecture and planning. Along with the usual urban farms, solar panels, wind farms, and bioswales, there were innovative proposals that advocated for changes in technological and programmatic aspects of the profession, from Mitchell Joachim’s radical houses made of meat and compact electric transportation systems presented by MIT’s William Mitchell..." http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/2009/04/09/koolhaas-flames-out-shantytowns-inform/

4.14.2009

New York Post: Terreform 1 at MEx

GREEN ACRE A HUB OF ECO-FRIENDLY ENTREPRENEURS GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Dan Avery, New York Post, 4-13-09. With Attara, who has a background in design, Interboro soon founded the Metropolitan Exchange (MEx), a community-minded co-op that offers office space to other architects, urban planners and researchers with a progressive bent. Among them is Mitchell Joachim of the nonprofit ecological design firm Terreform 1, whose visionary ideas for re-imagining cities -- like the City Car, a stackable car made of soft materials, and an airborne transit system using low-hanging blimps -- recently earned him a spot on Wired magazine's Smart List and Rolling Stone's 100 People Who are Changing America. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/jobs/green_acre_164229.htm

4.07.2009

One Hour Tower: New Project

One Hour Tower:
Part of our on-going critique of rapid prototyping technologies and urban waste dilemmas; see Rapid Re(f)use
"EVERY HOUR
New York produces enough waste to fill the Statue of Liberty"
We propose to make housing units fabricated with material localed in nearby landfills.

Brain Juicer, NYC

Mitchell Joachim presented at Brain Juicer NYC Innovation Event speakers included: Mark Earls, author 'The Herd', social networking guru and former planner at Ogilvy, on his thesis that we're much more influenced by what other people do than we admit or acknowledge - therein lies a significant marketing opportunity . . . and challenge! Alex Gofman, author and thought leader on innovation and market research, VP of Moskowitz Jacobs Inc. on Mind Genomics. Grant McCracken, author/cultural anthropologist and ethnographer, on Deputizing the Consumer as Anthropologist. Faris Yakob, Chief Technology Strategist, McCann Erickson:Thoughts on Social Media: From Technology to Touch. John Kearon, Chief Juicer of the leading international market research agency Brain Juicer: From "Me" to "We"research. Special Thanks: Susan Casserly Griffin http://www.brainjuicer.com/

4.01.2009

Design Green Now

Pratt Institute

April 01, 2009 | Wednesday | 6 - 8:30pm

Welcome and Introduction Andrew Personette - Executive Director, EcoSystems

Presentations by: Paul S. Mankiewicz, PhD - Executive Director - Gaia Institute Jason Salfi - co-founder - Comet Skateboards Andrew H. Dent, PhD. - Vice President, Library and Materials Research - Material ConneXion Mitchell Joachim, PhD - Terreform 1

Moderated Discussion lead by: Dan Rubinstein - Design Editor - Surface Magazine

http://www.designgreennow.com/2009/03/05/pratt-institute-materials/

3.18.2009

Rolling Stone: 100 People Who Are Changing America

Rolling Stone magazine selects; thinkers, visionaries and agents of change in; "100 People Who Are Changing America" Mitchell Joachim is honored.
"The visionary in urban planning sees stackable cars and houses in trees." WHAT HE'S CHANGING: In a sedate field, Joachim is pushing for a radical green rethink of the American city in the 21st century. An architect and urban planner at Brooklyn's nonprofit Terreform 1, Joachim wants to open up cluttered streets by creating a soft, stackable City Car that would be shared like a Zipcar. NEXT MOVE: Exploring inter-skyscraper blimp ferries and weaving energy-efficient houses into existing trees. KEY QUOTE: "I give a voice for people and things that can't necessarily speak for themselves, like trees and wildlife. Or the residents of Harlem."
Clarification; YES Harlem speaks, but not always by way of detailed urban design drawings.

2.21.2009

2.17.2009

PSFK Talks to Mitchell Joachim, Eco-Entrepreneur

David Friedlander at PSFK Asked what inspires him, Mitchell Joachim answered with things that started with G: Goethe, Gilliam, Gaudi, Gehry and his coming baby girl. But taking a look at the tall, dreadlocked architect & urban planner’s repertoire, you realize he has many other (alphabetically diverse) sources of inspiration...http://www.psfk.com/2009/02/profile-of-eco-entrepreneur-mitchell-joachim-dont-call-it-sustainability.html

Fab Tree Hab in Marvel Comics

SPIDER-MAN & THE HUMAN TORCH IN...BAHIA DE LOS MUERTOS! # 1 by Tom Beland and Juan Doe. Special Thanks: Alejandro Arbona. Available March 4th 2009.

1.28.2009

New Willow Balls

We are fully committed to promoting the principles of ecotourism and responsible travel. It is very important to determine if your trip conserves and improves the places you visit outside the US. These newfangled mini-lodges are composed of prefabricated pleached structures. Each delicately green unit has complete access to composting toilets, gray water systems, and solar powered lighting. Insect netting made from hemp protects against pests. Each ball should weigh less than 60 pounds. see more: WILLOW BALLS

1.26.2009

The Science for Life Conference, Canada

“Science for Life” at the University of Winnipeg, CA Wednesday, February 11th, 2009. Dr. Rod Hanley – Dean of Science Keynote by Dr. Suzanne Fortier, president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, NSERC. Keynote by Dr. Mitchell Joachim, Co-founder of Terreform 1, a nonprofit organization and philanthropic design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban environment. Dr. Joachim is listed in WIRED magazine's 2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To. The entire conference is free and all are welcome to attend. Confirm with Dr. Randy Kobes (786-9882, r.kobes@uwinnipeg.ca) or Rebecca Stephenson (258-2935, r.stephenson@uwinnipeg.ca)

The 4th NORDIC URBAN DESIGN CONFERENCE

The 4th NUDC 20th February 2009, Grieghallen - Bergen NEW DIRECTIONS IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Professor // Dr. Matthew Carmona //BARTLETT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LONDON // united kingdom Co-founder // Dr. Mitchell Joachim //TERREFORM ONE // united states of america Co-founder // Cameron Sinclair //ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY // united states of america Vice. President //Jason Prior //EDAW // united kingdomPresident // Erik R Kuhne //ERIK R KUHNE & ASSOCIATES // united kingdom Associate // Richard Hollington //OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE (OMA) // netherlands Director // Jonathan Smales //BEYOND GREEN // united kingdomConference host: Rob Cowan, Dir. Urban Design Skills http://www.nuda.no/ INTRODUCTION // There is a need to stage a guide for global planning which involves new sustained environmental directions. While urban designers and architects alone cannot solve the world’s environmental problems, they are responsible for designing the future cities, and therefore in a position to influence the promotion and pursuit of energy-efficient, socially-responsible buildings and public spaces. They are also in a position to influence the future cities through new paradigms of innovation; new thoughts; new perspectives; new methods and rural and urban strategies, where increased use of new technology is a crucial part of the sustainable planning strategies developed. The current urbanisation which attracts people in great numbers from rural areas and small towns raises issues such as prospects for work; housing possibilities; improved lifestyle and education. How does this rapid urbanisation effect the environment? How will rural areas cope with the increased emigration? Is urbanisation as an isolated entity the critical factor generating these environmental issues?The green city; the inclusive city; the social city; the walkable city; the eco-city are concepts promoted by architects and planners in their work of designing future cities and pursuing environmental solutions while at the same time trying to include a conscious approach towards the social and human aspect of the new urban context. New city concepts claim to accommodate the rapid urbanisation with design strategies enabling the city as an organism to grow accordingly to the growth of population. Is there a real demand for such new cities being planned? Might it be that the real challenge lies in sustaining the existing city, and turning the focus towards rural areas with small towns, villages and communities making them more interesting and attractive to live in so that people don’t move from these places?Current cities are challenged by future environmental problems escalated from matters such as higher urban density; constraint of land use; rapid urbanisation; increased car use; higher global mobility; higher energy use and an extended consumption of global and cultural resources. Highlighting the concept of the future cities includes discovering the reasons behind the potential environmental disaster. Are the environmental issues our cities are facing only related to what is described in the UN Environmental report? Or could it be a consequence of people’s advanced mobility and change of lifestyle over the past three decades? I.e. new cities adjacent to waterfronts will be major influence on economic growth and tourism, leading to increased consumption of natural resources and undesirable impacts on culturally important heritage sites.

1.18.2009

Why WALL•E Works: Cities of Rapid Re(f)use

When I arrived at the fabulous Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters in colorful Glendale California, my expectations were elevated. I was going to meet people with the finest imaginations on earth and talk shop. I had prepared a presentation that would unpack a comprehensive view of tomorrow’s world. It’s a world free of carbon loading in the atmosphere and abundant in self sufficient lifestyles. I had meticulously crafted cities so rich with green wisdom they made Kermit (the frog) appear like Dubya – or so I hoped. As an eco savvy architect, my work includes most things buildable within the rubric of a socio-ecological domain. Everyone and everything in these urban ideations were carborexic to the hilt. This means rethinking the design of entire systems, from doorknobs to democracies. I design places for people to fit symbiotically into their natural surrounds. To achieve this, all things possible are considered. I design the cars, trains, blimps, streets, as well as the parks, open spaces, cultural districts, civic centers, business hubs, etc. that comprise the future metropolis. For centuries cities have been designed to accommodate the drama of our human will. I have joined the ranks of delivering a new sense of the city, one that privileges the drama of nature over anthropocentric whims. I was vying with the good people at Disney for a profound clairvoyant perspective. I wanted them to preview a likeness of our collective future yet untold. Much to my chagrin they were light-years ahead, at least when it came to the topic of municipal wastes. At the time, I had a sketch of a new city composed of waste ordered by massive industrial 3D printers. A cadre of my students had run thru a number of iterations. All were schematic, but I inherently knew this was an exciting vector. When Ben Schwegler, Chief Imagineer, Mouseketeer and mastermind, took me behind the proverbial black curtain to reveal WALL•E, I was crestfallen. They beat me too it. WALL•E is perfect – almost. He is a tightly packaged solar powered, curious, obedient, evolved, robotic trash compaction and distribution device. His name is an acronym; Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class. Left behind by mankind, he toils with trillions of tons of non-recycled inner-city trash. Not only is he a highly advanced rubbish manager, he is a mechanized new fangled Mesopotamian architect. He piles Ziggurats quicker than Hammurabi. Also, and this is vital, he is incredibly adorable. His life is a tale of an ultramodern trash compactor in love. Ceaselessly, he configures mountains of discard material. Why pyramids of trash? WALL•E’s daily perpetual feats seem almost futile. Disney omits exactly why he is programmed to pile refuse, and there's the rub. I was interested in exploring a deeper motivation for stacking refuse. What if the refuse was re-fabricated to become urban spaces or buildings? How much new technology needs to be obtained to do so, or could I modify existing methods? If it is plausible to adapt the current machinery, how much material is available? By Mitchell Joachim Model: Mitchell Joachim & Webb Allen