counterforce lab: news & events > learning from nature


learning from nature:


a design conversation with rebeca méndez and mathew jull
2020 north x north festival
organized by the anchorage museum
noon monday, oct. 19

the future is here
an interactive design forum

together in conversation, designers rebeca méndez and mathew jull examine ideas of landscape, environmental justice, shelter and refuge. méndez’s recent project, biophilia treehouse is an initiative to create avian wildlife corridors throughout los angeles county, with resting, feeding and nesting sites for the dual purpose of serving an abundance of birds as well as humans, for whom the sites will offer respite for reconnecting with the natural world. areas most in need of connectivity are also areas with a history of environmental injustice and lack of green space in poor and underserved communities. biophilia treehouse addresses this environmental inequity. matthew jull studies arctic settlement and examines the potential role of architecture and landscape architecture in human lifeways, beyond engineering.

rebeca méndez is an artist, designer and chair of the design media arts department at ucla. she is director of the counterforce lab, a research and fieldwork studio that harnesses the power of art and design to engage with the reality of global ecological crisis and its ties to environmental injustice.

matthew jull is an associate professor of architecture at the university of virginia, a founding partner of the design practices kutonotuk and tempagency, director of the arctic design group (with leena cho) and an architect. with a phd in geophysics from cambridge and master of architecture from the harvard graduate school of design, jull’s research explores the intersection of architecture and urban design with the processes that shape the natural environment.

this free program is part of the 2020 north x north festival.

watch recorded event:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/nxn2020_biophiliatreehouse/1


anchorage museum:
https://www.anchoragemuseum.org
Mark