"The Green Buffalo" is a 2024 short documentary, approximately 20 minutes long, produced by Patagonia Workwear and directed by Joel Caldwell. Monika McClure also served as a producer.

The film focuses on the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota and their innovative use of industrial hemp to create hempcrete. This sustainable, low-energy building material offers a better-performing alternative for construction. The title symbolizes hemp becoming a vital resource for the community's housing and well-being, much like the historical role of the bison.

Discover the official trailer for "Built to Last: Buyer Beware," a revealing documentary by Two Stories Media. This film exposes hidden practices in manufacturing and marketing that mislead consumers, compromising product quality and safety, particularly concerning homes.

Through expert interviews, undercover investigations, and personal stories, the documentary champions transparency, integrity, and regulation. It challenges viewers to rethink purchasing decisions and their broader impact on society, the environment, and personal health.

Join us to explore the critical need for ethical, durable, and safe products. Subscribe to our channel for updates on the documentary's release and more content that makes a difference.

Published October 23, 2024, this initiative showcases how the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Minnesota is tackling affordable housing, greenhouse gas emissions, and community development simultaneously. Their innovative solution centers on utilizing hemp, driven by the leadership of Danny Desjarlais.

This project is documented by a team including Director Joel Caldwell, Producers Monika McClure and Joel Caldwell, and Director of Photography Chris Naum. Executive Producers are Alex Lowther and Damien Etchaubard, with editing by Jackie Viviers.

"WOMEN OF CARBON," a new video promo, explores the mass timber movement through the eyes of visionary women.

Set at T3 Timber Transit Technology in Atlanta, GA, the film highlights how these women are transforming construction with innovative engineering, sustainable building materials, and decarbonization solutions for a cleaner planet.

Coming soon. For more information, visit womenofcarbon.solareye.biz.

Permaculture designer Andrew Faust, from the Center for Bioregional Living, presents an inspiring narrative on the evolution of life and human consciousness. He brilliantly condenses the scientific worldview, highlighting its metaphysical implications.

This video was created by Costa Boutsikaris. For more information, visit terravisus.com.

Architect and urban planner Nuno Soares, based in Macau since 2003, explores how to integrate a city's unique character into everyday life and design. Drawing from his experiences living away from home, he shares insights on using local elements in architecture and urban planning.

Nuno founded and directs CURB – Center for Architecture and Urbanism, a non-profit organization. Its mission is to promote research, education, and knowledge diffusion in architecture and urbanism, bringing local issues to a global audience.

This talk was presented at TEDxSenadoSquare, an independently organized TEDx event. Learn more about TEDx at ted.com/tedx.

Rick Rybeck of Just Economics delivered a brief presentation to the Center for State Innovation, addressing the concepts of smart and dumb growth.

He highlighted "value capture" as a key technique. This method aims to fund infrastructure and create jobs, while simultaneously making housing more affordable and promoting sustainable development.

For further reading, see ShelterForce.

Google NYC hosted architect William McDonough for a talk on "Design as Optimism" on April 25th, part of Environment Day. Moderated by Mary Davidge, McDonough highlighted design as the first signal of human intention, showcasing real-world examples of products and communities designed to make the world better.

A global leader in sustainable development, McDonough champions "more good, rather than less bad" practices. He co-authored *Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things* and co-founded the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Hailed as "the father of the circular economy" and a "Hero for the Planet" by Time magazine, McDonough's philosophy offers practical, world-changing design solutions.

Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, explores design's diverse directions and future. In this "Helen Edison Lecture Series" presentation (May 2017), she offers a thought-provoking tour, posing critical questions about design's evolution.

This lecture is available via UCTV. [Humanities] [Show ID: 32113]

Spiritual and religious spaces are fundamental community features, reflecting the importance of faith and connection. In a changing global context, the design and use of these places of worship evolve to meet diverse public needs, fostering mutuality, engagement, and social capital.

John McAslan CBE and Aidan Potter (John McAslan + Partners), Sophia de Sousa, and The Revd The Lord Griffiths discuss how shared spaces, values, and connections shape communities socially and culturally.

Carrie Bishop explores how design can tackle social issues and bridge divides. She emphasizes design's power to address deep-seated problems by navigating constraints, complexity, and empathy.

Bishop encourages ambitious engagement with significant projects, urging viewers not to be intimidated. Watch her insights in this RSA Spotlight.

For the complete discussion, view the full replay here.

At the TED conference in Vancouver, Michael Murphy, co-founder and CEO of MASS Design Group, discussed architecture's transformative power. Drawing from his father's cancer journey, he highlighted how the built environment can impact community health and wellbeing. Murphy showcased humanitarian projects such as the Butaro Hospital in Rwanda and the GHESKIO Cholera Treatment Center in Haiti.

He posed a key question: "What more can architecture do?" This led his firm to consider how projects could create jobs, source regionally, and invest in community dignity. Murphy concluded by previewing MASS Design Group's collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative on a national memorial to victims of lynching, asserting that "Great architecture can give us hope. Great architecture can heal."

Paul Morrell, OBE, addresses critical challenges facing built environment professions, emphasizing the need for adaptability. He advocates for collaborative reforms in sector structure, education, policy, and accountability to enhance efficiency and societal value.

Many institutions, rooted in Victorian principles, struggle in today's world of technological shifts, blurring professional lines, and a discerning public. Morrell questions how they can update their past to remain relevant.

He highlights a critical "performance gap": buildings often fail to deliver on promises of health, well-being, and low-carbon impact, a systemic failure of the professions to address.

Alejandro Aravena, tasked with building housing for 100 families in Chile, found inspiration in favelas and slums. Rather than conventional small units, he designed flexible "half-homes" that families could expand. This innovative, simple solution arose from direct collaboration with the families themselves.

Aravena presents three projects demonstrating how clever rethinking leads to beautiful, beneficial design. He emphasizes, "With the right design, sustainability is nothing but the rigorous use of common sense."

Find closed captions and translated subtitles for this talk at ted.com/translate.

As global urbanization accelerates, affordable housing has become a critical concern. Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, advocates for housing to be central to urban planning, design, and overall strategy. This emphasis is crucial for addressing the affordable housing challenge.

Affordability, as defined in a recent MGI report, represents the financial burden a household bears—typically 30-40% of its income. This information was published March 19, 2015.

In his talk, Naresh Narasimhan discusses making cities livable by understanding their past, being environmentally aware, and taking responsibility. He asserts that paying taxes doesn't entitle one to complain; instead, we must "stop complaining and start fixing."

Naresh, known for his association with Venkataramanan Associates (VA), is an urbanist, activist, and creative entrepreneur in Bangalore. His recent initiatives include Cobalt, a co-working space designed to foster serendipity.

Every city has its unique social fabric. Dave Troy visualizes Twitter data from his hometown, Baltimore, to reveal these hidden lines—who talks to whom and who doesn’t. His work explores what online sharing tells us about urban communities.

TEDTalks provides daily video podcasts featuring leading thinkers and doers from the TED Conference. These talks cover a wide range of topics, including Technology, Entertainment, Design, science, business, and global issues. Find closed captions and translated subtitles here.

Alejandro Aravena's architectural philosophy is to "bring the community into the process." Ten years ago, when tasked with building housing for 100 families in Chile, he found inspiration in favelas. Instead of small units in large buildings, he designed flexible "half-homes" that each family could expand. This complex problem found a simple solution through direct collaboration with the families themselves.

Aravena showcases three projects where clever rethinking led to beautiful, beneficial design. Learn more at Alejandro Aravena's website, or follow TED on Twitter and Facebook.

Strong positive social connections are key to happiness, both for individuals and cities. Charles Montgomery explored this concept at Sam Sullivan's February 2014 Public Salon in Vancouver, BC.

Montgomery investigates how urban design intersects with the new science of happiness, drawing insights from psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics. From Disneyland to Dubai, his work reveals how city design influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions. He demonstrates that by changing our relationship with the cities we inhabit, we can transform our own lives.

Learn more by ordering his book from Amazon or visiting your local bookstore.

In her TEDxPhilly talk, "Moving from The Grand Vision to The Grand Adjustment," architecture critic Inga Saffron challenges cities to prioritize existing dwellers over skyscraper fantasies. She argues for a shift in focus towards improving urban amenities.

Saffron advocates for upgrading transit, adding bike lanes, increasing walkability, and creating great parks and public plazas. She believes density and sustainability can be achieved through a range of densities, not just skyscrapers, citing successful mid-rise buildings. Cities must be flexible and adaptable.