Energised by Richard Jefferies' After London, Biomimicry architect Michael Pawlyn and artist film-maker Ben Rivers think about shelter and community in the wake.
Michael Pawlyn has been described as a pioneer of regenerative design and biomimicry. He is regularly booked as a keynote speaker on nature-based solutions and innovation. His TED talk has had over two million viewings. In 2019 he jointly initiated 'Architects Declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency' which has since spread to 23 countries and other disciplines as 'Construction Declares'.
He established his firm Exploration Architecture in 2007 to focus on high performance buildings and solutions for the circular economy. The company has developed a ground-breaking office project, an ultra-low energy data centre, a zero waste textiles factory and progressive solutions for green cities.
Prior to setting up Exploration Michael Pawlyn worked with Grimshaw for ten years and was central to the team that designed the Eden Project. His book Biomimicry in Architecture has been RIBA Publications’ best-selling title and a second edition was published in October 2016. Michael Pawlyn jointly initiated the widely acclaimed Sahara Forest Project; the latest version of which was opened by the King of Jordan in 2017.
website: www.exploration-architecture.com
Ben Rivers is an artist and filmmaker represented by Kate MacGarry Gallery in London. Awards include the EYE Art Film Prize, 2016; FIPRESCI International Critics Prize, 68th Venice Film Festival for his first feature film Two Years At Sea; Baloise Art Prize, Art Basel 42, for Sack Barrow; Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists, 2010; twice winner of the Tiger Award at Rotterdam Film Festival, twice shortlisted for the Jarman Award, and was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University in 2015. Recent solo shows include Urthworks, Hestercombe Gallery, Somerset; Phantoms, Triennale, Milan; Urth, The Renaissance Society, Chicago; Islands, Kunstverein of Hamburg; Earth Needs More Magicians, Camden Arts Centre, London; The Two Eyes Are Not Brothers, Artangel, London and Whitworth Museum, Manchester. He recently collaborated on a new feature film Krabi, 2562, with Anocha Suwichakornpong, which premiered at Locarno Film Festival.
website: www.benrivers.com