“The future isn’t what it used to be” was the theme for the 10th annual Holistic Options for Planet Earth Sustainability conference, hosted last weekend by the Ecological Design Center at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
The on-campus conference included workshops, panels and lectures offering alternative methods for the integration of environmental sustainability in architectural design.
Students and community members kicked off the event with a 24-hour design session focused on planning and design ideas for a Center for Applied Sustainable Living. Conference volunteer Maren Zieba described the challenge as a way for students to design unconventional buildings.
“People are frequently using standard practices,” she said. “This challenge allows for the exploration of alternative methods and materials. … A university setting provides a place for the openness to ideas.”
Keynote speaker Eric Lloyd Wright lectured to a full house Friday evening, reinforcing the philosophy of “organic architecture” through a slide presentation. The slides showed how architectural design often imitates fundamental forms of nature such as the hexagon or spiral. Wright, an architect and founder of Wright Way Organic Resource Center in Malibu, Calif., focused on the integration of beauty and sustainability within design.
“We can have the technologies, but we must make it beautiful, just like nature makes it beautiful,” Wright said. “And we can do that.”
Other keynote speakers included Edward Blake Jr., landscape architect and educator; Ananya Roy, author and professor of urban studies and planning; and Brock Dolman, ecologist, activist and educator.
Workshop leaders focused on local concerns, taking participants to places such as Skinner Butte and Delta Ponds to identify the ecological needs present in the context of planning and design.
Students also hosted a “Trashy Fashion” show with a variety of outfits made from trash and other recyclable materials. Outfits incorporated recycled tire chains and bicycle tires, foil and stuffed animals as a projection of the future human state if current resources were to be depleted.
The HOPES Conference was created in 1994 by students at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. The conference is the only student-created and organized event on the West Coast focusing on environmental sustainability in architectural design. ASUO and EWEB sponsored the event, allowing professionals, students and community members to network and participate in the activities for free.
One of the main ideas of the conference was to highlight the importance of efforts within the community to accomplish ecological design goals. Speakers and volunteers continually reminded participants that there is not only an interrelationship between ecology and design, but that there is also a relationship between community and sustainability.
Speakers Director Jonathan Cook discussed the universality of the conference.
“It’s something that’s broad enough and grand enough to engage students in a variety of disciplines,” he said.
Cook also emphasized the importance of continuing the conference in light of increasing environmental concerns.
“We hope to create a strong core group now so that next year’s crew can take off,” he said. “Our social and environmental responsibilities are an ongoing process.”