The first CLEAR Village Lab was at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Spain, 5-7 November 2009
The CLEAR Village Lab 2009 was a three-day, immersive event gathering together passionate professionals from a variety of disciplines to create the masterplan strategy for a real-life sustainable village.
The intention of this initiative is not to build a ‘perfect place’, but rather to foster a dynamic, living community which embraces principles, technologies and forms of governance that allow for a more sustainable future of living and can provide a benchmark for other communities to follow.
The 2009 Lab is the first in a series which will develop the masterplan through multiple phases until building is ready to commence. At this first CLEAR Village Lab participants will be allowed the space to contribute as openly, creatively and emotionally as they wish.
Next Steps
Once a finalised set of templates has been created, the next step will be to find a host community that wishes to be the location of the first CLEAR Village.
After the Lab, the Kernel will be updated with the contributions made by the collective intelligence of the Lab. It will be continually iterated, both on line and through successive CLEAR Village Labs, until it becomes a masterplan strategy from which the phase 1 of the real-life CLEAR Village. All contributions will be referenced.
Participants of the Lab
PHILIP D. ALLSOPP, Principal, Transpolis Global
A trained architect, Philip D. Allsopp is Principal of Transpolis Global, a global collaboration of design, academic, and public policy experts joining forces to inspire creative local solutions to the complex social, economic and environmental problems faced by neighborhoods, communities and cities. Acting as both a catalyst for action through consultancy as well as an applied research entity through its formal linkages to key universities, Transpolis is devoted to improving the policy, business practices, and design input that help to create urban conditions under which communities, cultures, and the arts and sciences are able to thrive.
LAUREN B. ALLSOPP
Lauren Allsopp is a professor and architectural conservator. She has taught at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and, as an associate professor at Eastern Michigan University, taught in the graduate Historic Preservation program. Prior to academia, she was the architectural conservator at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village. Lauren holds a M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland; she is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Her research focuses on vernacular architecture and the conservation of traditional materials, particularly masonry. Her favourite places to work are where these elements come into play within a community setting with sustainable needs. Clients have included the National Park Service, the Hungarian Government, and R.M.S. Titanic, Inc. Lauren’s favourite quote is from William Radford in 1908: “A man who builds a house owes a duty not alone to himself but to the neighborhood as well. He really has no moral right to construct a home that will be a blight on the landscape.”
FILIPE BALESTRA
Filipe is part of a new breed of young, visionary architects, who see architecture as a vehicle for shaping a sustainable global future. After creating works for architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Thomas Sandell, Filipe is working on his own vision of Evolutionary Architecture, which uses his profession as an instrument to accelerate global development. By prototyping, strategizing, visualizing problems and strategizing solutions, he hopes to create models and processes that can be spread and shared, to be a catalyst for incremental change.
BRAD BARTHOLOMEW, Little -Diversified Architectural Consulting
Bradley Bartholomew leads a team of architects and designers dedicated to creative and innovative sustainable design at Little Diversified Architectural Consulting located in Charlotte, North Carolina. With more than 15 years of experience in design and construction, Brad’s diverse body of work includes civic, commercial, hospitality, retail and residential commissions, which have garnered regional, national and international attention.
KIPPER BLAKELY, Blatter+Frick
Kipper Blakeley has been involved with philanthropy both as a donor and as an implementing partner of programs for the past 17 years. His field experience includes working in Latin America and Asia. Most recently, he served as an International Advisor for the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), run by one of the most well-known “social entrepreneurs,” Mechai Viravaidya. In this capacity, Kipper worked on a senior management team tasked with development, implementation and follow-up of myriad programs, including micro-credit and HIV-prevention initiatives, as well as the post-Tsunami socio-economic rehabilitation of nearly 100 villages. Kipper works for Blatter+Frick as a consultant. Following the sale of the family business, Kipper has been involved with setting up the family foundation. Kipper’s private sector experience includes working at Accenture in Colombia and five years of international business development for Extech, a printer manufacturer in the United States. He earned a Master’s degree from The Fletcher School, where he supplemented his business courses with classes on microcredit, refugee issues, and non-profit management. He currently sits on the European Advisory Group of The Fletcher School.
IAN BRYAN, Sensible City
Ian Bryan is a veteran media strategist and the President of Sensible City, a community-oriented marketing and public relations agency specializing in enterprises which propel greatly-needed social and environmental progress. Sensible City, founded in 2001, represents several of the most popular progressive brands in the United States and averages over 3 news stories per week, per client, making it one of the top producing media agencies in the world. An outreach strategy consultant to Barack Obama’s Senate and Presidential Campaigns, Ian is responsible for Sensible City’s design and measurement of social media programs and community engagement strategies for a host of progressive corporations and municipalities.
ASHISH DESHPANDE, Elephant Design
Ashish is the Founder of Elephant Design and leads all the branded product design projects and brand environment projects of the company. He graduated from faculty of Industrial Design of National Institute of Design (India) in 1989 with specialization in consumer product design using engineering plastic processes. Over the years he has been part of over 250 design projects ranging from appliances & medical equipment to retail environments and has lead teams on various award winning projects.
ERIC COREY FREED, Urban Re:Vision
Eric Corey Freed is Executive Director of Urban Re:Vision and principal of organicARCHITECT, an architecture and consulting firm in San Francisco, with over 15 years of experience in green building. Eric teaches the Sustainable Design program he developed at the Academy of Art University and University of California Berkeley. He is on the boards of Architects, Designers & Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), Green Home Guide and West Coast Green, as well as the advisory boards of nearly a dozen other organizations. He was the founding Chair of Architecture for The San Francisco Design Museum and one of the founders of ecoTECTURE: The Online Journal of Ecological Design and the author of “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies” (John Wiley & Sons), a best seller with 50,000 copies in print.
EDMUND COLVILLE, Edmund Colville Landscape Designs
Edmund Colville designs unique gardens both domestically and commercially. Having come from a fine art background, he was inspired to design gardens through a deep empathy with nature and a desire to create beautiful spaces. Having trained in the History of Art and Architecture at Manchester University and 3D design at Camberwell College of Art, Edmund then trained in Garden Design at the Inchbald School of Design. He also obtained a General Certificate in Horticulture from the Royal Horticultural Society and has a qualification in Permaculture Design. Edmund has worked on many gardens in Cape Town, South Africa as well as here in England. This has given him a good experience in dealing with gardens in any type of climate.
NATHANIEL CORUM, Architecture for Humanity
A staff architect for Architecture for Humanity, Nathaniel coordinates its international studio programs, including an AfH Container Studio, a Prefab Core Studio, a Floating Classroom Studio, and a Pac Rim Studio. He is also a design architect for various AfH projects. In addition Nathaniel leads a material science team for an AfH Alternative Masonry Unit (AMU) project, and serves as Cabin Architect and Sustainability Consultant for the Plastiki Expedition. After studying product design at Stanford University, Nathaniel trained as an architect at the University of Texas at Austin. A subsequent Fulbright Scholarship allowed him to focus on preservation and urban poverty issues in North Africa. He is also the recipient of a Rose Architectural Fellowship, and author of Building a Straw Bale House (Princeton Architectural Press). Nathaniel has been collaborating with AfH since 2005 when he and Cameron were both teaching in Montana and writing books.
ANNA ESBJØRN HESS, Danish Architecture Centre
Anna is a Project Manager at the Danish Architecture Centre and an anthropologist working on the Sustainable Cities database. She develops and carries out projects that aim to document, share and activate knowledge about urban sustainability. She More about Anna Esbjørn Hessholds a diploma in ethnography and social anthropology from Aarhus University and joined DAC following a position as project manager at The Danish Town Planning Institute.
CHRIS GARVIN, Terrapin Bright Green
Chris is a partner at Terrapin Bright Green, a strategic environmental consulting group, and a senior associate at Cook+Fox Architects. His interests include high-performance design at both the building and community scale, zero energy communities, biomimicry, and water conservation. Complementing his work at Terrapin, Chris lectures frequently on sustainable design and has taught at the Pratt Institute’s Center for Professional Practice since 2002. In addition, he is currently developing an exhibit on “Biomimicry and the Built Environment: lessons learned from Nature”. Chris received a Bachelor of Architecture degree with honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where he worked with noted professor Vivian Loftness and spent a year at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland. He and his partner Todd Sears live in Manhattan.
JOSHUA GOTTDENKER, Tamera Solar Village
Joshua is a Solar Village Technology Specialist at Tamera Healing Biotope I working as a redistropreneur with a diverse background in science (plant biology) and technology (computers and electronics for augmenting learning and thinking) with tendencies towards conceptual art and building alternative energy production facilities and sustainable food production and habitat infrastructure.
TANJA JORDAN, Tanja Jordan Architects
Tanja Jordan has worked as an independent architect since 2000 and founded Tanja Jordan Architects in 2008. She is responsible for project development and the realization of projects in the fields of housing and culture, participatory planning and programmatic/visionary urban projects. Tania Jordan Architects believe that an architectural programme is a collective learning process, where the dialogue between engaged and informed partners makes everyone better. This dialogue should challenge normative thinking and support the creative vision of the office: to design prospects which can create new ways of living with a minimum CO2 footprint.Tanja is educated internationally and is currently following the master programme MEGA (Master in Energy and Green Architecture) in Aarhus.
ASIER LARRETEXEA BARJA, SQ Consult
Asier is a consultant in topics related to the implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency concepts in built areas. Based on the experience gained on Sustainable Construction in The Netherlands and working on the department of Energy in the Built Environment at Ecofys Spain, he currently develops energy concepts for local energy generation, transmission and energy efficiency at urban and rural areas. His work goes from the strategic perspective to the creation of concepts and the implementation of realistic technologies and solutions.
CHRIS MARE, Village Design Institute
Chris Mare designed and completed the world’s first BA degree devoted to Ecovillage Design. An MA in Whole Systems Design and a PhD in Human and Organization Development provided opportunities to create numerous studies embellishing the greater theme “sustainable community design and development.” Mare founded a non-profit – Village Design Institute – whose purpose is to offer design, education, and consultancy at the three morphologies: ecovillage, urban village, traditional village. As Program Development Coordinator for Gaia Education, Mare gets to oversee the global diffusion of an Ecovillage Design Education curriculum. Chris Mare grows and gives away as much food as he can.
PETER MAJANEN, Quattroporte
Peter Majanen is not only a successful value researcher, author, lecturer and a talented communicator. He also has a degree in singing, is a junior master in shot put and father of the company Quattroporte amongst other pursuits.
DUNCAN MARTIN, Cloughjordan
Dr Duncan Martin is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Environmentalist and former Senior Lecturer at the University of Limerick, in Ireland. He has been a member of the design team for Ireland’s first ecovillage, in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, since 2002 and will be building there himself. He also leads the Village Education, Research & Training group. The ecovillage, which will add 130 homes plus community and commercial buildings to an existing town, is now under construction: see www.thevillage.ie.
GLEN MCMINN
Glen McMinn, is Creative Director and founding partner of Breakhouse, a multidisciplinary retail design consultancy, based in Halifax, NS. Since the inception of Breakhouse in 2000, Glen has partnered with regional and national clients, including McDonald’s Canada, Sobeys, and Bell Canada, in the creation of branding, retail design and architectural initiatives. Glen holds a MA in Architecture and a BA in Environmental Design and has lectured and critiqued at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, and the University of Western Ontario Ivey School of Business.
FRANZ NAHRADA, Globally Integrated Village Environment
Franz Nahrada is specialized on research and the connection points between local development, information and communication technologies and finding out the best and most sustainable patterns, integrating them in future village scenarios. Special attention is given to education, local learning centers technologies and design tools, and mapping and chaining of local value driven enterprises and on urban-rural cooperations.
JESPER NØRGAARD PAGH, Move
Jesper is Co-Founder of Move. He holds a diploma from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture. After his studies, Jesper worked as an inhouse designer in a company developing and manufacturing power electronics before starting his own design consultancy in 2004. In January 2007 MOVE was founded when Jesper and Bo Borbye Pedersen joined forces and today Jesper work in the fields of research, strategy and concept development. Jesper is also a board member at Danish Design Association.
LEIF OLSEN, Rushmore University
After 20 years as corporate manager and consultant Leif moved into bi-/multilaterally funded financial sector development work in the early 90’s, first in Eastern Europe, later in Asia. Experiencing first hand the mostly unrecognized cultural problems such work entails, he presented his PhD thesis on “cultures’ impact on multilateral cooperation” in 2005, later published as ’Traffic – A Book About Culture’. Having completed a 60 unit resort village in Thailand (2003-2008), Leif now focuses on ‘governance’, highlighting the unsustainable logic ’the West’ uses when forcibly exporting its concepts to ‘the Rest’. He offers insights into how to build sustainable cultures, fostering locally accepted good governance based on the fusion “glocal”.
BLAINE O’NEILL
Blaine O’Neill is currently in Copenhagen studying architecture and sustainable design and immersed in the buildup to COP15, the planet’s last chance for a substantial global climate treaty.
KATRIN OLINA
Born in Iceland, Katrin Olina studied Industrial Design at the E.S.D.I. in Paris before working in the European design studios of Philippe Starck (Paris) and Ross Lovegrove (London). Since then, she has worked predominantly as a graphic artist and illustrator in the realms of industrial design, fashion, interiors, print, and animation, as well as participating in several prominent museum and gallery exhibitions.
KATHRINE O. RASMUSSEN, Actiontank
Kathrine O. Rasmussen holds a BA in Art from University of Aarhus and was educated at the Kaospilot, with the school motto:” We don’t want to be the best school in the world, but the best school for the world”. Kathrine founded ACTIONTANK together with Stine L. Hansen. ACTIONTANK is a proactive think tank using design methods and processes to create social innovation. ACTIONTANK sets a new team of external consultants – ACTONMEN – for each assignment. ACTIONMEN each hold a specific competence or knowledge that is relevant for the need. This creates a dynamic organization, always designed to address the individual assignment the best way possible.
SUE RIDDLESTONE, Bioregional
Executive Director and Co-Founder of BioRegional, Co-Director One Planet
Sue is a Skoll Award winning social entrepreneur. As a founder of BioRegional’s One Planet programme, she has worked to introduce sustainable communities in countries from China to the USA. Sue has pioneered projects on sustainable paper production, including creating The Laundry, London’s first kerbside recycling collection. As a member of the Mayor’s London Sustainable Development Commission, Sue has set targets for reducing London’s CO2 emissions and the London 2012 Olympic bid – and subsequently helped to write the sustainability strategy “One Planet Olympics”. Sue co-authored a book with co-founder Pooran Desai about BioRegional’s projects and approach – “BioRegional Solutions”, and is a regular contributor to conferences and the media. In 2008 the Government appointed Sue to the Eco-Towns Challenge Panel, with CABE Sue wrote “What makes an eco-town?”.
ATHINA STAMATOPOULOU
Athina is an undergraduate student of NTU Athens in the department of architecture, preparing her final project to graduate. She is interested in new technologies, new media, communication and interaction, in landscape and city planning, public space and urban environments, not only in the context of architecture, but also in artistic, social and anthropological terms. She focuses on creative interaction that challenges people to re-think, to participate in the formation of their experience and customize it in every scale of the urban reality. She was member of the organization of easa007, which took place in Elefsina in Greece. She has participated in architecture and cultural events and exhibitions in Greece, in indesem 2009 workshop, under the theme ”point of view”, in the university of Delft and in the “solar house workshop” at Iaac institute in Barcelona.
CAROLYN STEEL
Carolyn Steel is an architect and author. Since qualifying from Cambridge University in 1984, Carolyn has combined practice with teaching, writing and research. She joined the practice in 1989, since when she has completed several buildings for the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her academic work has focused on the everyday lives of cities, and her lecture series Food and the City is an established part of the architectural degree at Cambridge University. She has run successful design units at Cambridge, London Metropolitan University, and at the London School of Economics, where she was inaugural studio director of the Cities Programme.
DEREK STEWART, Metalli Lindberg
Derek is a graphic designer and Design director at Metalli Lindberg in Conegliano, NE Italy. He studied graphic design at the London College of Printing and worked in various studios in London before moving to Italy. He has worked for clients as diverse as BP Oil, Joe Strummer, Rex-Zanussi, Gitzo, Ecor, Hamleys, Duran Duran, Consorzio Priula, Moto Guzzi. His work has been recognised nationally and internationally and has been published in design books and magazines throughout the world. Metalli Lindberg’s philosophy is ‘working for positive change’ and this is the premise for every project taken on, big or small. ‘Every product, service, message can contribute to making it a better world in which we live, diffusing values that go beyond being purely material and economical: ethics, sustainability, culture.
KORINNA THIELEN, Arup
Korinna is a Senior Designer with Arup Urban Design and has led several strategic Masterplans for both urban regeneration projects and new towns, most recently for the eco-town for Leicester. She has previously worked in leading architectural practices in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK and pursues a wide interest in creative production across various scales and media. She has taught widely and is also assistant editor for the journal CITY.
JEFF THIMM
Jeff Thimm is a Rural Development Specialist working in sustainable rural and urban development, social & environmental entrepreneurship, permaculture design, natural farming and appropriate technology. He is currently designing and creating a sustainable micro-farm on the outskirts of Tirana, Albania, to be a model for rural and peri-urban development in the Balkans and Mediterranean. Based on Permaculture design and Fukuoka natural farming, we will integrate food production with ecosystem cultivation and appropriate technology to form the basis of abundance.
MIRIAM TURNER, Interfaceflor
Miriam Turner is Innovations Project Co-ordinator for InterfaceFLOR in Europe a division of US based Interface Inc., a global leader in the manufacture of environmentally responsible floor coverings. After reading Biological Sciences (Hons Ecology) at Edinburgh University, Miriam went on to complete an MProf in Leadership for Sustainable Development, run by Forum for the Future, the leading sustainability charity in the UK. The fast track programme is formed of an interactive blend of work-based experience, development of leadership skills, intensive tuition, and personal reflection. Miriam is particularly interested in the business contribution to furthering sustainable development, and working abroad in countries such as Paraguay, Mexico, Ecuador, and India has developed her understanding of the global dimensions to sustainable change. Miriam is currently working towards an accreditation from PBAS Partnership Brokers Accreditation Scheme).
JESS TYRRELL, Germination
Jess is Founder of Germination which she set up 3 years ago. Having trained originally as a theatre director, set up and ran a music agency and then got all serious. She worked as head of external affairs for the UK’s leading political think-tank for 3 years, including a short period working for the PM. After a major epiphany and realising that politics doesn’t work, she went back to what she does best – putting on events that hopefully always entertain and maybe, occasionally make people think.
FRANK VAN HASSELT, Ethical Economy
Frank studied philosophy at Oxford and spent about ten years working in the corporate and venture capital sector. He is currently in charge of strategic accounts at Ethical Economy, a London-based company that develops tools and services that enable individuals, companies and organisations to live their values and maximize their ethical impact.
ANDRE VILJOEN, Bohn & Viljoen
Andre Viljoen is an architect and a senior lecturer in architecture at the University of Brighton and with Katrin Bohn contributes to the work of Bohn&Viljoen Architects. The publication in 2005 of Bohn & Viljoen’s book CPULs Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes: designing urban agriculture for sustainable cities, consolidated a body of research underpinning the case for urban agriculture as an essential element of sustainable urban infrastructure. This book and the associated design concept has had a significant international impact, resulting in invitations to exhibit and lecture widely, including recent exhibitions hosted by the Netherlands Architecture Institute, Canadian Centre for Architecture and Exit Arts in New York. Bohn & Viljoen’s projects include feasibility and design studies as well as food growing installations and events for clients such as the Greater London Authority, London Festival of Architecture, the Building Centre and Sustain.
ANTONI VIVES
Antoni Vives is an economist, politician and essay-writer. Promoter and Member of the board of The Catalan Institute for Advanced Architecture (IAAC), lecturer at the London School of Economics, he cooperates with several think tanks working on the city, identity and other related subjects. He is secretary of the Cabinet Office of The Catalan Government and also elected member of the council of Barcelona.
KARINA VISSONOVA
Karina Vissonova is a product developer for VELUX who works on new product concepts and strategises for sustainable business development. Karina has managed co-create projects and works in a transdisciplinary way to ensure well rounded concepts. She studied Intercultural Management at Copenhagen Business School . Before moving to Denmark, Karina worked with wood trade in Latvia.
DANIEL WAHL, Findhorn
Daniel Christian Wahl has ten years of experience as a sustainability researcher. Originally trained as a biologist at the University of Edinburgh (1996), he gained a distinction for his MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College in 2002, and completed his PhD on whole systems design for sustainability in 2006 at the Centre for the Study of Natural Design (University of Dundee). Since 2007 he is the academic director of the Findhorn College and a member of Gaia Education. Daniel teaches and publishes in English, German, and Spanish, and has worked internationally as a consultant in design for sustainability and education for sustainable development. He free-lances as programme designer and facilitator for the UNITAR affiliated training centre CIFAL Findhorn.
HOW THE LABS WORK
Input
The basis of the Lab work sessions will be the ‘Kernel’. This document is the starting point for the CLEAR Village methodology which will be developed through the series of CLEAR Village Labs until there is a final masterplan strategy.
Based on this material, Lab participants will respond to a set of challenges which will be the starting point for the village masterplan. The Kernel is not designed to limit the thinking of Lab attendees. Rather, it is to provide a stimulating starting point to allow the best use of time at the Lab.
Experience
The time at the Lab is designed to be as engaging, enjoyable and challenging as possible. The CLEAR Village Team is devising highly interactive programs for the days which includes a mix of group and plenary sessions for design work.
This Lab is the first in a series which will develop the masterplan through multiple phases until building is ready to commence. At this first Lab participants will be given the space to contribute as openly, creatively and emotionally as they wish.
Output
The set of templates with tailored design concepts will be the main output of the lab. A series of iterations will take place via the collective intelligence process governed by a creative commons license.
Download CLEAR Village Lab FAQ
LAB ENVIRONMENT
The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia will host the first CLEAR Village Lab in its main space and adjoining workrooms.
The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia is a latest-generation education and research centre dedicated to the development of an architecture capable of meeting the worldwide challenges in the construction of habitability in the early 21st century. Based in the 22@ district of Barcelona, one of the world’s capitals of architecture and urbanism, the IaaC is a platform for the exchange of knowledge with faculty and students from over 25 countries, including the USA, China. India, Poland, Italy, Mexico and Sudan. Students work simultaneously on multiple scales (city, building, manufacturing) and in different areas of expertise (ecology, energy, digital manufacturing, new technologies), pursuing their own lines of enquiry on the way to developing an integrated set of skills with which to act effectively in their home country or globally.
The IaaC has carried out research projects in Brazil, Taiwan, Croatia and Romania. In 2008 it was chosen to take part in the official section of the Venice Biennale with the project Hyperhabitat, and in 2010 will present a 1:1 scale house entirely produced at the Institute at the Solar Decathlon Europe in Madrid. The IaaC has the most advanced digital production laboratory of any educational institution in southern Europe, with laser cutters, 3D printers, milling machines and a platform for manufacturing chips.
To find out more about The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona visit their website.
