Roofs & Rambles

Just got an email through a week or so ago from Ed Snodgrass. When I was in DC earlier in the year, he interviewed me for a forthcoming book on designing green roofs. We were discussing habitat and how from a nature conservation point of view need to create a range of micro-habits for bugs, [...]

‘In nature materials are expensive and design is cheap’ was one of the profound things that came out of the Radical Nature workshop I was fortunate to be involved with last week. I was joining Michael Pawlyn of Eden Project fame, at his invitation to help work through the ideas of Biomimicry adopted  in his [...]

As part of Planning Aids Green roof week I did a tour of roofs in Islington. Two in fact – the small rof on the Municipal Offices(MO) and the The Muse, the home of Bere architects.
The MO roof is small, about 40m2. However it is soon to be joined by a bigger cousin – 100m2. [...]

Seems like my interest in nature today is being usurped by food. I love food. I love the idea of local food, slow food, local shops, local production but am realistic to realize that their is a big corporate machine that is as hungry for hegemony as a starving person is to fill their belly. [...]

Another visit to the Laban -seems I am visiting at least twice a week at the moment! Today I was being interviewed by Christoph Keller for Swiss radio. Considering that the Laban is designed by Herzog De Meuron, Basel based Architects and the inspiration behind our stems from Dr. Brenneisen’s seminal study of green roofs [...]

I have habit of reading any newspaper I find, whether it be liberal, right wing or damn right tabloid. As ever the Guardian’s George Monbiot rails against the injustices of the UK planning system. Tesco’s is about to invade his town Machynlleth. He could be accused of ‘dawn’ right nimbyism by his detractors – and [...]