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

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.

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

Dream The Impossible documentary from Honda

Honda showcases “DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE Documentary Series” by acclaimed director Derek Cianfrance and award-winning producers @radical.media. “Mobility 2088” centers on the future of mobility as told by a collection of academics, scientists, sci-fi writers and artists, including; Mitchell Joachim, Dave Marek, Chee Pearlman, Guillermo Gonzalez, Jason Wilbur, Ben Bova, Scott Bolton, Yasunari Seki, Joe Johnston, Orson Scott Card, Chuck Thomas, Jim Keller, and Christopher Guest. The film asks, “How will people get from point A to point B in 80 years?” “Mobility 2088” will air at an exclusive screening before the highly anticipated “Mary and Max” at the Sundance Film Festival.

Mark Primack at Metropolitan Exchange

THE TREE CIRCUS OF AXEL ERLANDSON, a talk by Mark Primack Thur. Jan. 15th at 6:00 p.m at MEx (Metropolitan Exchange) 33 Flatbush Ave. 6th Floor, Brooklyn. Between 1922 and 1963 a California farmer, surveyor and orchardist named Axel Erlandson designed and trained trees into sculptural and architectural forms unique in horticultural history. Axel expanded that ancient science to include chairs, towers, ladders, spiral staircases and enclosures that could be grown, rather than built. He eventually displayed his creations in a roadside attraction outside of Santa Cruz, which he named the Tree Circus. Mark Primack discovered Erlandon's neglected and dying trees in 1977, shortly after completing his Masters thesis on Botanic Architecture at the Architectural Association of London. His efforts to document Axel's work, to write their history, and to protect and preserve the surviving trees were themselves fading into obscurity when his friends at the Museum of Jurassic Technology convinced him to present, in words and images (many for the first time) his remarkable record of a dedicated visionary and a creative genius.

Bioworks Institute Website Launched 2009

Co-Founders: Oliver Medvedik, Ph.D. and Mitchell Joachim, Ph.D. Bioworks Institute: An interdisciplinary endeavor that seeks to rethink biological art and design. www.bioworks1.com