ted talk. homes grown from plants, meat...

I have just found this on youtube. This guy is a genius!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw9s0ivfn3w

I am very interested, so can anyone give me some sites to read.

Thanks

Hi Fiona,

I agree that Mike is a brilliant person and innovative thinker, but please don't get too wrapped up in the hype. His work is the foundation of many possibilities for the future, of that I have no doubt, but we are not going to realize many (if any) of those realities for many decades, at least not in a tangible reality for the day to day needs of millions of this planets residences. Focus your time and money on basic natural and traditional building methods.

One of my challenges with "Ted Talks," in general is it really does a great job of stimulating thoughts, but often distracts "us" (society at large and the funding agencies in it) away from "real time" solutions and architectural needs. From "Meat Houses," to "CNC prefabs cut from plywood," these are all great and innovative, but also very impractical to spend much time on as a focal point. I am glad there are folks like Mike working and thinking about this, and I do support them, and that type of light I see in my students, but don't get lost in it.

Pleaching has been around for longer that just 2500 years, and any well rounded horticulturist and/or botanist can explain the basics to you. If that is what has you excited I will answer any questions you may have, but will warn you upfront, it is extremely time consuming and fraught with setbacks. It is more "art form" than tangible event for application in architecture. I use many of the methods when I practice Pesai (盆栽) but again, this is art not a realistic building method. For enhancing architecture, perhaps try some of the "Living Wall" concepts, which we employ when designing vivarium displays and living systems.

Regards,

jay

He gives new meaning to the term "meatspace"

And there is a LOT out on Youtube of his talks long and short: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+Mitchell+Joachim

Fedge house. I like it. Or an EXTREMELY awesome outdoor living space of any home. Why not make your gazebo into a garden?

My self esteem is at a low point today . I do not think my psyche could handle the symbolism of daily ingress and egress through a sphincter muscle . I noticed he kept saying "We grow ..." but was showing computer designs only . Has he actually done any of this ? The biggest problem I can see with pleating a home is that it will keep growing . Instead of settling your walls and foundation would be rising . Growing homes from meat in a world full of starving people ? Hubris.

Has he actually done any of this ?

I would say not one little bit, and that is my point exactly about many of the folks that come to "Ted Talks," and solicit funding.

I am not trying to "squash" creativity, but I am getting really tired of "pie in the sky," types that want to reinvent the wheel, but have not really built, restored, maintained or done very much of anything in the vintage fabric of architecture or any of the natural building arts. It is all theory and concept, which is well and good to do, but not at the cost of grant money and funding going to them over a traditional timber framing school, or a natural building school that is actually realizing architecture that people of all status around the world can benefit from.