Maria Aiolova: Ecology and Design- February 7th

Maria's lecture focused on creativity and how imagination is a key role in how we see the world and design for it. Maria said, "It is hard to get anywhere if you don't imagine it first." Maria was discussing how it is impossible to design for the future if we do not imagine first how we think the future will look like.
Something that was quite interesting was the new use and imagination for materials that have never been used for design before. Thinking outside the box allows for new ideas to thrive and grow and this may just be the key to our sustainable future. A few new materials that were discussed was the use of meat to physically create a building that is living. A little scary of a thought and when she said that the prototype died because it had no immune system I was actually very shocked at how out of the box there thinking has gotten.

1) Meat House

2) Meat House Prototype that died due to no immune system. 

A design suggestion was also with the use of growing/ living trees to create a home. The home takes seven years to grow and is 100% still alive. The way that Maria is incorporating the living in these designs I find very interesting and I see great potential with.

3) Process of Fab Tree Hab growing. 

4) Tree house village

5) Model of Fab Tree Hab. 

Discussed earlier by David Barber was actually a similar topic of a sustainable future. David discussed about how this is the worlds chance to make a change and it is pretty much now or never if we want to keep our earth. Global Warming we all know about but we think it is much past our generation and someone else can deal with it, but truth is between 2015-2030 it is predicted that all glaciers in the arctic are to melt and this will increase sea levels causing flooding all over the globe. The climate that is being created today is changing at rates that have never been seen before, so basically we have no idea what is going to happen and this is a huge gamble with the human population. The Greenland ice sheet is melting 600% faster then was predicted. What this means for the rest of the world is a scary mystery. We have caused many animals to go extinct but who knew we may actually get rid of humans too.

6) Graph showing ice sheet decreasing annually.

1) Mary , Hill. Other Peoples Houses, "Forget Lady Gaga's meat dress: the bacon house is where it's at." Last modified 2011. Accessed February 7, 2013. http://maryfranceshill.blogspot.ca/2010/09/forget-lady-gagas-meat-dress-bacon.html.
2) Terreform ONE, . Bioworks Institute , "In Vitro Meat Habitat." Last modified 2011. Accessed February 7, 2013. http://www.bioworks1.com/meat_house.html.
3) Amelie , Znidaric. Style Park , "A Jules Verne of architecture." Last modified 2013. Accessed February 7, 2013. http://www.stylepark.com/en/news/a-jules-verne-of-architecture/316043.
4) John H., Daniels. Daniels, "HOMEWAY: The Great Suburban Exodus." Last modified Unknown . Accessed February 7, 2013. http://www.daniels.utoronto.ca/exhibitions/2009/12/homeway_great_suburban_exodus.
5) Frances , Du and Denise Lu. Green Canada, "Exploring Socio-Ecological Design With Mitchell Joachim." Last modified 2013. Accessed February 7, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cultureist/mitchell-joachim-socioecological-design_b_2103363.html.
6) Unknown. Arctic Sea Ice Blog, "PIOMAS August 2011 (new volume record)." Last modified 2013. Accessed February 7, 2013. http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2011/09/piomas-august-2011.html.