Cypress Guitar

In General LeValle, Argentina seventy year-old Pedro Martin Ureta delivers a creative twist on the fact that a guitar is made of trees with a tragic love story as it's heart.  This particular guitar is unique in that it is made of 7,000 trees, can never be played, and can be seen from space.  Ureta embedded the design into his farm many years ago, and maintains it to this day, as a tribute to his late wife, Graciela Yraizoz, who died in 1977 at the age of 25.

Pedro Martin Ureta's late wife, Graciela Yraizoz,
who died in 1977 at 25. Photo courtesy of WSJ

One day while traveling in a plane over the pampa, Ms. Yraizoz noticed a farm that, through a fluke of topography, looked a bit like a milking pail from the air, her children say. That's when she started musing about going one better and designing the family's own farm in the form of a guitar, an instrument she loved. (1)

As with many ambitious young men, Mr. Ureta was too busy to tend to his wife's project and later, after her passing, decided to complete the work as a tribute to her.  Today, Mr. Ureta says his wife's passing turned his life in a more philosophical direction. ¨I stepped back for a time,¨ he says. He read about Buddhism. Mr. Ureta says a line by an Argentine folk guitarist and writer, Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburo, stuck in his head: "I galloped a lot, but I arrived late all the same." (1)

His giant guitar is an unusual example of what's known as land art, in which forms are built into the natural environment, said Nancy Somerville, chief executive officer of the American Society of Landscape Architects. (1)


You can see it here in Google Maps:

View Cypress Guitar, Argentina in a larger map

Dirty Car Artist

Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Scott Wade has been called the "da Vinci of Dust," the "Michelangelo of Mud," but he prefers the "Dirty Car Artist." After years of experimentation, he's perfected the techniques he now uses to transform filthy cars into mobile art galleries. Check out his work at www.dirtycarart.com.  Not quite as refined as Goldsworthy, but pretty cool stuff none-the-less.

Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com

Moss Milk Shake

Photo courtesy of greenupgrader.com

1. Get a big-old handful of moss from a friend, an enemy, or steel it from a big box garden center. Having more than one variety will increase your chances of success, in case one or more types don’t like the conditions....so go back often and steel a bunch.  An alternative would be to do your research and know what you are growing...but hey, either way.

2. Toss the moss into a blender with two cups of yogurt, buttermilk, or beer, and enough water to keep the mix spreadable. If you insist on using beer please use that cinnamon beer in the back of your refrigerator left over from the "Christmas" 12 pack your brother brought over. A dash of compost can be added will help but it isn't necessary...althoughit might make that beer taste better.  Avoid human compost.

3. Clear some rocks and a patch of ground of debris like twigs and leaves and such.  Using a paintbrush, your fingers, or the top of your head, spread the shake across any other surface where moss is desired. Keep in mind that moss prefers shade.  If you didn't know this already, moss milkshakes are way too complicated for you.  Go ahead and drink that cinnamon beer.

4. Keep it moist by misting daily.  You will also want to carefully tend the area, keeping it free of leaves and debris and your pain in the neck dogs. Oh, and have patience: Moss can take as long as two growing seasons to establish itself...and someday your brother will stop leaving you terrible beer.

Thanks for the inspiration: http://www.gardendesign.com

Louie Schwartzberg: The hidden beauty of pollination

Great video, check it out:

http://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_the_hidden_beauty_of_pollination.html?source=facebook#.T2HgYF4yG3N.facebook

Highland Brewery: Low Impact Beer

In 1994 the Highland Brewery began brewing beer in downtown Asheville, North Carolina with some refurbished dairy equipment.  I was lucky enough to take a "tour" back in 2001 which consisted mainly of standing in place and drinking.  My pint was joyfully snatched from my hand and refilled every time it was 1/4 of the way below the rim: the proverbial never emptying glass.  Needless to say the rest of the workday was shot, but the beer was well worth it.


Fast forward 11 years and I find myself living in Philadelphia, inspired by the writings of Paul Hawken, and Amory Lovins (among many, many others) looking for companies, leaders, and designers that are trying to move towards a capitalism that is more complete.  I was additionally inspired by a John Todd who lectured at the Academy of Science and spoke about how, during his tenure with UVM, he worked with the Magic Hat brewery in Burlington, VT to develop a closed loop brewing process.


This was of particular interest to me for two reasons:  UVM and Magic Hat were just across the lake when I was growing up, and...I love beer!  So I decided to look close to Philadelphia and wrote a little something about Dogfish Head Brewery. 


I then set upon a mission to track down all my favorite beers and see if and how they fit in to my other interest of what Hawken calls, Natural Capitalism.  The first on the list is Highland Brewery, a favorite beer brewer of mine and one of the biggest things I miss about living in North Carolina, and Asheville in particular.  All of their beers are amazing and full bodied...the Kashmir IPA and the Oatmeal Porter are my personal favorites.  Highland's claim to fame is their malty yet well bodied Gaelic Ale.  It's a crowd pleasing beer


With regards to a green initiative they hit the trifecta of building reuse, sustainable manufacturing, and community stewardship.  You can click HERE for the particulars, but these guys try and do it all.

In terms of community outreach, Highland has partnered with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Adopt-a-Stream, and Manna Food Bank, and offer support to other organizations in their tasting room.  And that room is amazing see below:

Tasting Room!

I toured again last May with a raucous group, had a blast, and could not recommend the facility more.  Part of that tour lead us to the French Broad River Brewery, but that is a blog for another day.... Cheers!

 

Paint With Grass

Photo courtesy of Ackroyd & Harvey; Park Ave + Resident (2011)

 British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey use grass to make pictures—"living" photographs. Wielding the traditional tools of the artist and the gardener to harness a plant's natural photosynthesis, their process is a nice synthesis of art and science. Harvey describes their natural medium, saying, "The grass has a certain importance because of the simplicity of the blade. By nature it slightly grows towards the light." Adapting this principle, the artists cultivate grass that reacts to the light by growing in different shades, from green to yellow, depending on the amount of light it receives from a custom negative.  (1)

Photo courtesy of Ackroyd & Harvey; Park Ave + Resident (2011)

Photo courtesy of Ackroyd & Harvey; Park Ave + Resident (2011)

Photo courtesy of Ackroyd & Harvey; Park Ave + Resident (2011)

For the full story, click HERE

(1) www.gardendesign.com

ParkScore: How Good are Your City's Parks?

ParkScore is a project developed by The Trust for Public Land, one of the nation’s largest national nonprofit organization working to create and improve neighborhood parks.  There are  many other similar neighborhood/park accessability ranking systesms (WalkScore and BikeScore) and ParkScore is the newest of those systems.

Covering 40 major cities in the U.S., ParkScore enables any park lover to create customized maps for each city, evaluate park access by neighborhood, and determine where parks are still most needed, writes Peter Harnik, ASLA, Director, Center for City Park Excellence at TPL. The goal of the project is to help communities lobby for more parks and better parks. “We hope that city leaders, park providers and park advocates will use the information at ParkScore as a valuable tool to help plan park improvements. Over the long run, a rising ParkScore will mean healthier people, higher property values, and more vibrant and livable communities.” (1)

The new tool is not as comprehensive as the others in that it  ranks the park systems of the 40 most populous U.S. cities on a scale of 0-100, with an easy rating system of 0-5 park benches. The top 10 cities:(1)

1. San Francisco (74.0)
2. Sacramento (73.5)
3. New York (72.5)
3. Boston (72.5)
5. Washington, D.C. (71.5)
6. Portland (69.0)
7. Virginia Beach (68.5)
8. San Diego (67.5)
9. Seattle (66.5)
10. Philadelphia (66)

And the five cities at the bottom of the list:
35. San Antonio (35)
36. Indianapolis (31.0)
36. Mesa (31.0)
38. Louisville (29)
39. Charolotte (28.5)
40. Fresno (21.5)

For the methodology related to ParkScore, click HERE and make up your own mind about it's usefulness.

(1) http://dirt.asla.org/2012/05/31/how-do-the-parks-in-your-city-rank/

Micro Intervention: Shoe Recycling in Philadelphia

Photo courtesy of knowledge.allianz.com

 FACT: It takes approximately 5,000 pairs of sneakers to create an elementary school playground surface.
 

PROBLEM: The average lifespan for sneakers is 500 miles. For most people, that means replacing their sneakers every six months to a year, which results in somewhere between 300 and 600 million pairs of sneakers destined for the landfill annually. But don’t chuck your Chucks yet, because they can be recycled into playground surfaces, running tracks, basketball courts, carpet underlayment and, yes, even new sneakers.

  SOLUTION: Rittenhouse Sports (1717 Chestnut St., 215.569.9957) accepts used sneakers and shoes, and donates footwear in decent condition to homeless shelters. The remainder are recycled. Philadelphia Runner also accepts sneakers at their Center City location (1601 Sansom St., 215.972.8333). They only ask that you don’t tie the laces together when donating your worn-out kicks. The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program is available at most Nike and Converse Factory Stores, including the ones at the Franklin Mills Mall in Northeast Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Pottstown, Pa.

Story courtesy of Samantha Wittchen, GRID 

Biomimicry

Photo courtesy of http://www.algaecompetition.com/algae-awards/

In the late nineties Janine Benyus wrote a seminal eco-capitalist book called Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.  Adapted from a larger Deep Ecology philosophy, the basic precepts were to use Nature as a Mentor, Measure, and Model for how we design and inhabit the planet.  One particularly striking idea was the use of a biotic method for producing energy.  

Fast forward 13 or so years and the International Algae Competition challenged architects, engineers, scientists, algae enthusiasts and students from around the world to design visionary algae food and energy systems. This week, they have announced seven prize winners from the 40 finalists. (1)

A list of winners is below – click on the links to for visualizations from the individual prize winners and more detailed project descriptions. (1)

 

The Abundance Prize and Best Video

Green Loop: Marina City Global Algae Retrofitting, Chicago by Influx_Studio, Mario Caceres and Christian Canonico. (1)

Algae Landscape Design First Prize

Process Zero: Retrofit Resolution. GSA Federal Building, Los Angeles, CA, by Hok/Vanderweil, Sean Quinn. (1)
Urban Algae Culture in Gangxiacun, Shenzhen China, by Kady, Wong Hoi Kei & Kate, Lau Hoi Ying & Perry Li. (1)

 

The Algae Production Systems First Prize

Circular Tank Technology to reduce production costs, by Vincent Guigon, Antenna Technologies, Geneva.
Organic spirulina microfarm with biogas plant. Normandy, France, by Laurent Lecesve, Hybrid énergies & Eco-Systèmes. (1)

 

The Algae Food Development First Prize

Biosphere Instant Soup Concept by Lucie Bolzec, founder of Delis Design Studio, France.
Dances With Algae, by Lynn Cornish, Scott Hubley, Romelda Nickerson, Josie Todd, Canada. Marine Algae Foods and Recipes. (1)

 

The Appreciation Prize, voted by participants

Algae Powered Mushroom Farm in Congo, Africa, by 10 Design Group, Ted Givins. (1)


Also, check out the amazing winners here:

http://www.algaecompetition.com/algae-awards/

(1) http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2012/05/11/peeking-at-the-future-of-algae-international-algae-competition-announces-winners/

Hawk Cam!

Photo courtesy of sunnydixie.blogspot.com/

From the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia PA we have learned that two Red-tailed Hawks built a nest on a window ledge of their building along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The nest sits just outside a window where a camera has been positioned to create this video stream. The camera looks through the glass window pane which is 24 inches wide (~61 cm). No artificial lighting has been added, so the nest is only visible during daylight hours.(1)


Streaming live video by Ustream

The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is the most common hawk in North America. It is a large bird with a broad, red tail. The female is usually larger than the male. Red-tailed Hawks are monogamous, meaning that a hawk will choose one mate and stay with that mate for life.(1)

Philadelphia provides a suitable year-round habitat for Red-tailed Hawks. They can be found in open areas with elevated perches where they sit and watch for their prey. They are meat-eaters and feed on small to medium-sized mammals and birds. In an urban area such as Philadelphia, that would certainly include rodents, although these particular hawks are most commonly observed to be feeding on pigeons.(1)

The Red-tailed Hawk builds its nest in a tall tree or other elevated perch. The nest is a circular assembly of sticks and twigs, lined with softer pieces. It appears that The Franklin Institute's hawks have used newspaper scraps and feathers to soften their nest. Tree bark and leaves are also known to be used in nesting.(1)

Red-tailed Hawks will lay a clutch of two to four eggs in March or April, depending on climate. (A clutch is the collection of eggs, kind of like a "litter" in other species.) For Philadelphia's latitude, the eggs are likely to be laid in mid-March.(1)

The female lays the eggs one at a time, approximately every other day. The number of eggs is related to the availability of food in the area, as a well-fed female is likely to lay more eggs.(1)

 Oh, and for the drama, oh the drama, check out this blog:

http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/

 (1) All text courtesy of http://www.fi.edu/hawks/