Unearthed talks 2021
Planted Unearthed three-part talks programme 2020 explored how sustainability, design, architecture and nature can combine to create cleaner, greener, healthier urban spaces.
Hosted by biophilic design expert Oliver Heath and Planted co-founder Sam Peters, and with a range of high-profile industry experts, Planted Unearthed forged discussion around our right to repair, carbon capturing and blooming buildings. Watch all the talks below.
In association with
How we lost it and how to reclaim it
Chaired by Oliver Heath
Not so long ago darning a pair of socks, fixing a kettle or even changing and repairing car parts were all common household jobs. But these days so many products seem designed for the manufacturer’s eyes only. Many of the world’s most successful commercial products are designed intentionally to deter repair, reuse and recycling.
When precisely did we lose our right to repair and how do we set about reclaiming it? After all, if we don’t, the waste we create will surely suffocate our planet. In short, how do we achieve a circular economy and remove the waste choking our life support systems?
Speakers
Claire Potter
Claire is founder of multi-disciplinary design studio Claire Potter Design, based in Brighton. The studio work focuses on the development of the circular economy through the design of spaces, products and materials, with research focused especially on marine plastics and fishing industry waste.
The studio also works with partners to develop positive behaviour change campaigns to encourage a shift to a more circular world. Claire leads the BSc Product Design Course at the University of Sussex, is replicating solutions working group co-ordinator for the Global Ghost Gear Initiative while also a volunteer regional rep for Surfers Against Sewage.
Duncan Baker Brown
~ BBM Architects
A senior lecturer at Brighton University’s School of Architecture and Design, Duncan is also a renowned author who has taught around issues of sustainable design, the circular economy and closed-loop systems for 25 years.
His acclaimed book the Re-Use Atlas, published by RIBA, points to a new paradigm, replacing the design of single, static, solitary buildings with the design of complex adaptive systems. He proposes a four-step approach of recycling, reusing and reducing to achieve a closed loop economy.
Greg Lavery
~
Rype Office Furniture
Greg is the founder of Rype Office, a circular economy remanufacturer of office furniture that is finding favour with organisations including British Land, JLL, VINCI and a host of universities. Rype Office’s furniture is lower cost and has an 80% smaller carbon footprint than furniture made from virgin resources.
Greg received a PhD for his research into sustainable building design, working across the fields of Engineering and Architecture.
Ugo
Vallaurii
~ The Restart Project
Ugo Vallauri is Co-founder and Policy Lead of The Restart Project, a London-based charity fixing our relationship with electronics. By encouraging people to use their electronics longer and collecting and sharing data from community repair initiatives globally on recurrent barriers to repair, Restart pushes for legislation for the Right to repair in the UK and across Europe.
Their "Restart Parties" community events, where volunteer repair coaches help the public find and repair faults in all kinds of small electrical and electronic devices, are currently on hold during the pandemic, yet Restart engages with a thriving community of groups in the UK and globally sharing knowledge and repair tips to prevent unnecessary waste.
Can design solve the crisis?
Chaired by Oliver Heath
We all know the problems associated with industrialised carbon consumption but how do we fix these through the medium of design? Burning and consuming carbon on an unprecedented scale in recent centuries has seen the earth’s temperature rise to a point we are now seeing noticeable and destructive changes to our weather patterns. In recent times there has been a growth in agricultural, land management and building design methods – including re-wilding projects – which have given rise to a new sense of hope it may be possible to turn the tide on carbon consumption. But what role does design play in reducing the myriad negative effects of carbon consumption? What role does design have to play in ridding ourselves of our carbon addiction?
Speakers
Seb Cox
~ Sebastian Cox Design
With the growing movement and understanding of the role rewilding can play in the future of sustainable consumption, no designer is doing more to champion this cause than Seb.
An award-winning bespoke furniture designer, Seb comes from a farming background and knows at first hand the pressure those producing our food can feel to move towards ever more ecologically damaging processes of industrialised production.
Along with his wife, Brogan, Seb recently published a 15,000-booklet entitled Modern life from wilder land: a manifesto for nature-first land and resource use which has been lauded both inside and outside the design world.
Oksana Bondar
~ Biohm
Oksana is a regenerative designer and innovator with almost a decade of experience in entrepreneurship, design and circular economics.
Oksana is passionate about circular design and her extensive theoretical and practical knowledge of the concept can be seen throughout her work, which has achieved global recognition and is exhibited worldwide. Throughout her professional and academic practice, Oksana engages with socio-economic and political challenges in the areas of consumption, manufacture, refuse management, decentralisation and localisation.
Andrew Waugh
~Waugh Thistleton Architect
Andrew is a founding director of Waugh Thistleton Architects, an architecture practice dedicated to designing buildings and places of the highest architectural quality that acknowledge their impact on the environment.
Andrew is a passionate advocate of low carbon design and construction; encouraging clients to look at the beauty and benefits of innovation. Andrew teaches and lectures frequently with a focus on sustainability, timber construction and the future of architecture.
Greening our future buildings
Chaired by Sam Peters
With more and more studies demonstrating the mental and physical health benefits of being connected to nature, this talk explores how we can find ways to redesign our living and work spaces to reflect this growing understanding.
We know feeling connected to nature both at home and at work improves creativity, productivity and well-being but so many of our buildings and spaces still lack access to green space and fail to respect the environment.
How can we ensure cities of the future act not just as places where nature can exist, but places where nature can flourish and grow? How can we ensure the buildings we live and work in enable us to co-exist with the natural world?
Speakers
Oliver Heath
~ Oliver Heath Design
As an industry-recognised global authority on biophilic design, Oliver founded award-winning architecture and design practice, Oliver Heath Design. With 20 years media experience working for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and other European networks, Oliver is one of the most respected thinkers in the world of sustainable design practice.
Mak Gilchrist
~ The Edible Bus Stop
With more than 30 years experience as a fashion model, Mak’s career has been guided by an ethical approach surrounding what work she accepted. On the other side of the camera, she produced shoots for European editorial clients on location in London. At the Edible Bus Stop, she is an integral part of bringing each scheme to life. She meets with the client, evaluates their requirements, consults on the hard & soft landscaping of the designs and co-produces the builds. She is responsible for the community engagement elements of each scheme and works towards creating a sustainable legacy for each project. She is published and presents talks on the importance of active green spaces in the public realm.
Richard Sabin
~ Biotecture
Richard is the Founder and Managing Director of Biotecture Ltd, Growing Revolution Ltd & Green Planet Design Ltd. He is a Board Member of the BRE Biophilic Office project and provides strategic advice on green infrastructure across the globe.
Richard is a degree qualified engineer with a background in and passion for sustainable construction. He cut his teeth in civil engineering working on the Channel Tunnel project, and from 2003 set up his own ethically-oriented businesses that value equality, partnerships and environmental responsibility. He also established the PlantBox Trust in 2019, a charity that helps create engaging green spaces, provides cleaner water and reducing air pollution.