Living Future unConference 2016

Track: Place + Locus

The client just cares about cost. The principal isn’t really interested in integration. Half the project team has bought into sustainability and health goals… and half hasn’t. We hear the same complaints from even the most progressive designers year after year. Ugh… inertia. In this session we’ll identify and then design the behaviors and processes that we actually want, applying novel tools from Stanford University’s labs. Not just another session about integrated design (“won’t work here”) or trickery (“what’s this broccoli doing in my chocolate?”), you’ll go home with specific, easy, fun, collaborative, momentum-building wins for your practice.

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*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.  

TRACK: Place + Locus

Learn how universities are teaming with local non-profits to execute community-based projects, expand learning opportunities for students through professional engagement activities, and create a pathway for the next generation of architects to learn about and thrive in the industry. Seven university programs from five countries received a grant from Pillars of Sustainable Education, a $1.5 million program created by Alcoa Foundation.  Administered originally by Architecture for Humanity and more recently by the International Living Future Institute, the goal of the program is to support graduate education in sustainability and to explore the use of sustainable materials in architecture and community design. Professors and students from three universities, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and Purdue will present their projects and outcomes.

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*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.  

Track: Place + Locus

Living communities projects are often quilted within existing communities, challenging the design team to create innovative built systems as well as resilient community systems. Truth and transparency are key to activating these communities and allowing them to take ownership of living community visions. This session profiles successful communities and gives tools for project teams to help leverage building projects into longer term community capacity. Our session will focus on how a commitment to transparency can help develop community strength in decision-making, knowledge development, legal structure and financial resources. This presentation will include case studies and a toolkit of innovative engagement methods that build capacity for living community planning.

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*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.  

TRACK: Place + Locus

The future belongs to cities, but only to cities that can plan for, implement, and adapt to our changing world. Come hear how four very different cities – Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, and Ann Arbor and Flint, Michigan - are moving towards high performance buildings, better transportation options, and transitioning to cleaner energy. Learn how cities are actively engaging with citizens, politicians, and professionals to initiate and enable the municipality to lead the community towards a more prosperous, resilient and sustainable future. Also, find out what challenges cities have to overcome and how to help the community you live in move forward.

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*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.  

TRACK: Place + Locus

Mobility systems have a profound effect on the form of cities and regions. Most mobility systems are based on non-human-scaled tools which have resulted in a deeply polluting network that is out of scale with the human experience. Who wins and who loses in the current right of way paradigm? This session will investigate the substantial opportunity to incorporate human-scaled mobility in order to use space more effectively, empower people of all ages, abilities and income levels to access basic services and employment, as well as drastically reduce the energy footprint of cities.

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*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.  

Track: Place + Locus

Urban agriculture (UA) can help feed the world’s growing urban population using high‐density food production (HDFP) systems such as vertical farms and plant factories, which use electric lighting, and complex HVAC systems for environmental control. HDFP facilities use less arable land and water to produce food rich in nutrients and flavor, consistently and year round, regardless of location. Additional benefits of high‐density UA include food security, decreased energy use for transportation and storage, agricultural education, and jobs training. Challenges include: current vendor‐driven design approaches; building codes; capital costs; and the need for new integrated design approaches to maximize resource efficiency.

Want to access a copy of available* presentation PDF's? Click here to download.
*Not all presentations were approved for distribution.