VIVA + VIA Sneak Peek

The inevitable issue with taking a break, even for a couple of weeks, from blogging, is that the flows of project ideas and concepts wait for no one and begin to pile up in a somewhat annoying fashion... so I have a massive backlog of projects to show off... and as it's late - a quick peek at some new ones before I get far into the projects. And as there seems to be a predominance of quick visual blogs popping up - I'm hoping to get some good dialogue and information going about both the visual and the realized.

For the (Veg.itecture in Visual Assessment) VIVA - GRAFT Architects and the “ao project” is a fantastic example of how wild the concept of Veg.itecture has come (via The Design Blog - via Designboom for much more). Or on another hand, it's an example of what happens to your glassy modern box if it gets lost in the back of the fridge for a month or so.






:: images via The Design Blog

And for the (Veg.itecture in Action) VIA we have the long-awaited Vancouver Convention Center (or Centre, depending on your location) - featuring the largest green roof in Canada... more on this one soon for sure.


:: image via Jetson Green

Food for Thought Winners

The winners for the competition 'Food for Thought' sponsored by 24-7 sandwich shop have recently been announced, and it seems as if the organizers were successful in providing some provocative visions of a new culture of food.

The winning entry 'Connection Wall' comes from Milos Milivojevic from Serbia and envisions a digital diner where virtual meetings can take place through the use of technology: "The central role of the dinner as gathering place of the family or friends is being dissolved. He is proposing a remedy. By making the 24/7 shop network a place were you can eat with your friends or family even if they are not there."

:: image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

Second place is from Vipra Kothary & Namrata Sharma of the UK for the entry 'Globe Trotting Kitchen', a parasitic structure that feeds on the host - in this case fast food chains - using this relationship to serve a healthy antidote to the ubiquitous food factories.

:: image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

Third is a disturbingly brilliant entry 'Le Vache-folle' by Mutabile Architecture that confronts our relationship with our food in all of it's bloody reality. Asking the questions: "...how do we treat the animals we eat? Why do we pick lobsters out of an aquarium but not chickens? Why not bring the food preparation much closer to the customer; Not by impletementing an open kitchen, but by bringing the slaughter itself into the restaurant."

:: image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

And in any competition, there are many worth runners-up, so I mined the archive for some interesting visuals of other entries, particularly some ideas around urban agriculture... no shortage of ideas on that topic. Check out many, many more at the 24-7 blog... definitely food for thought.

:: Urban Plant - image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

:: Delici(h)ous(e) - image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

:: Farm of Lost Tastes- image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

:: It's raining sandwiches - image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

:: 257MDM- image via 24-7 Sandwich Shop

Fungi Perfecti

Greetings... after a short pause from posting due to conference presentations and work (both paid and yard) - a breather to drop a few lines as a retrospective on the Soak it Up conference from last week. More to post in coming days, but a chance to rave about a pioneer and his book related to a vital and unseen aspect of sustainability. Paul Stamets, founder of Fungi Perfecti finished a fantastic conference with an engaging two-hour presentation on his work regarding the mycelia...


:: image via Fungi Perfecti

Now one might wonder how you may keep a restless conference audience gaping and engaged for two hours to discuss the humble mushroom, but the complexity and scope of the mycelial web that permeates the entire globe is some fascinating stuff. It helps that Mr. Stamets is a witty and talented speaker as well.




:: mushroom/mycelium - images via Fungi Perfecti

And I would be remiss without mentioning the book Mycelium Running, which I am currently devouring and savoring (say like some hand-picked chanterelles)...


:: image via Fungi Perfecti

I'm particularly enamored with the section on mycotechnologies - using mushroom cultures for curing some of our land and water ills, including:

:: Mycofiltration: the filtration of biological and chemical pathogens as well as controlling erosion.
:: Mycoforestry and mycogardening: the use of mycelium for companion cultivation for the benefit and protection of plants.
:: Mycoremediation: the use of mycelium for decomposing toxic wastes and pollutants.
:: Mycopesticides: the use of mycelium for attracting and controlling insect populations.

:: images via Fungi Perfecti

I will post more about the conference and the book as I get ramped up for more regular posting... as a prelude, see for yourself with this video of Stamets from TED... good stuff:

Info from TED: "Entrepreneurial mycologist Paul Stamets seeks to rescue the study of mushrooms from forest gourmets and psychedelic warlords. The focus of Stamets' research is the Northwest's native fungal genome, mycelium, but along the way he has filed 22 patents for mushroom-related technologies, including pesticidal fungi that trick insects into eating them, and mushrooms that can break down the neurotoxins used in nerve gas. ... There are cosmic implications as well. Stamets believes we could terraform other worlds in our galaxy by sowing a mix of fungal spores and other seeds to create an ecological footprint on a new planet."