Clive Russell: designing a movement

Maurizio Montalti: magic mycelium

Maurizio Montalti is a designer, researcher, educator, entrepreneur and one of the early pioneers in the development of mycelium-based technologies.

Maurizio is the founder of Officina Corpuscoli, a transdisciplinary studio with a focus on the design and production of natural biomaterials. The studio’s work has exhibited globally, in institutions like MoMA, New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris and The Design Museum, London.

Maurizio is also co-founder, chairman and research & development director of Mogu – an environmentally conscious design company dedicated to the creation of high-performance solutions and products derived from mycelium.

For those of you who may not have come across mycelium before, it's the living root structure of mushrooms. And over the last decade, mycelium has come to the forefront of bio-design as a potentially revolutionary material that can reduce our reliance on petroleum-based plastics and other unsustainable materials. Today mycelium is being used to create biodegradable packaging, leather-like textiles, plant-based meats and many other alternatives to the products we currently use.

If you’d like to see some of Maurizio’s projects, here are a few links to some of his work:

• Officina Corpuscoli
• Caskia
• Fungal Futures
• The Growing Lab/Mycelia

You can also find Maurizio’s work on Officina Corpuscoli’s Instagram: @corpuscolo

And if you’re interested learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website and feel free to get in touch at: [email protected]

We hope you enjoy the episode and we'll be back with season 2 of Green Canvas in the next few months!

Pam Longobardi: art and the plastic problem

Pam Longobardi is an artist, environmentalist and Professor of Art at Georgia State University.

In 2006, after discovering the mountainous piles of plastic debris the ocean was depositing on the shores of Hawaii, Pam began collecting and utilising plastic as the primary material for her artwork in a project called Drifters. Now a global collaborative entity, the initiative has removed tens of thousands of pounds of plastic debris from environments and shores across the planet and transformed them into artworks that are displayed in social spaces and galleries around the world.

Pam’s work has been featured in publications like National Geographic and been exhibited at The Venice Biennale.

If you’d like to see some of Pam’s work, here are a couple links that you might find useful:

• Drifters Project
• Ocean Gleaners

And if you’re interested learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Brendan MacFarlane: reinventing cities with eco-friendly architecture

Brendan MacFarlane is a leading architect and co-founder of the Paris-based architectural firm Jakob + MacFarlane - a multidisciplinary architectural agency with a focus on environmental transition and digital culture. Jakob + MacFarlane are the initiators of the French chapter of ‘Architects Declare Climate & Ecological Emergency’ – a network of architectural practices committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency. They also recently won the C40 Reinventing Cities awards for their innovative, carbon-friendly projects, Living Landscape and The Energy Plug – both of which we speak about in this episode.

Living Landscape is a new urban hub located in Reykjavik, Iceland. It will be the largest wooden building in Iceland and will house a local ecosystem of indigenous plants, local rocks and topographic surfaces. The space will also be home to a kindergarten, restaurant, greenhouses, office space and is designed to be an eco-systemic methodology for developing cities into the future.

The Energy Plug is located in the northern suburb of Paris and is a reinvention of a former industrial site. Through a modular design, a reversible wooden extension and solar panels which are attached to the building, this site will become a self-sufficient producer of renewable energy, as well as being a centre for cultural events, scientific workshops, exhibitions and a place for start-ups, NGO’s and industrial partners to test and share their solutions for clean energy, climate change and sustainable urban development.

Jakob and MacFarlane also initiated an imaginary project called Tonga Above which rethinks the Tongan capital of tomorrow after it becomes inundated with rising sea levels due to climate change. As sea levels rise, a number of states within the Pacific Islands risk disappearing underwater. So, Jakob and MacFarlane, in partnership with the Tongan-based artist Uili Lousi, have proposed to create an urban landscape that would exist above the current Tongan capital and therefore prevent a mass relocation for citizens of Tonga.

Other major projects by Jakob + MacFarlane include the Georges Restaurant at the Pompidou Centre, Paris, Orange Cube, Lyon, FRAC Centre, Orléans, and Euronews’s global headquarters, Lyon.

Jakob + MacFarlane’s projects have been exhibited in museums around the world, including London's V&A Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Moscow’s Museum of Architecture, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and Pompidou Centre, Paris.

If you’d like to see some of Jakob + MacFarlane’s work, here are a few links to some the projects we spoke about in this episode:

• Living Landscape
• The Energy Plug
• Tonga Above

And if you’re interested learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Elissa Brunato: exploring the materials shaping our future

Elissa Brunato is a designer and researcher who explores the intersection between human demands and wider ecological systems.

This exploration has led Elissa to tackle the huge environmental footprint caused by the production of modern-day sequins. Industrial sequins are made from petroleum-based plastic or synthetic resins and due to their miniature size exacerbate the micro-plastic issues our planet currently faces.

So in 2019, Elissa worked alongside material scientists to create naturally shimmering sequins that are made from a structural component found in plant cell walls called cellulose. The sequins are compostable, lightweight, strong and offer a glimpse into the solutions sustainable materials provide and the possibilities that lay on the horizon at the intersection between design and science.

Elissa’s projects also include exploring industrial flat glass production and the issues that stem from its widespread manufacturing to create the buildings that dominate urban landscapes across the world today.

Elissa's work has been exhibited around the world, won a range of acclaimed awards and been featured in publications like Dezeen, Creative Review and Fast Company. If you’d like to see some of Elissa’s work, here are a couple links to the projects we spoke about in this episode:

• Bio Iridescent Sequins
• Float

And if you’re interested learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Clive Russell: designing a movement

Clive Russell is a prominent graphic designer and central part of the team behind Extinction Rebellion’s brand identity, design toolkit and cover of Extinction Rebellion’s official handbook – This Is Not A Drill.

Since 2018, Extinction Rebellion’s iconic font-type, colour scheme and striking graphics have helped catapult them into a global movement with hundreds of thousands of followers across the world.

Along with co-founder Charlie Waterhouse, Clive Russell is the design director of This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll, a full-service design agency for culture and social and ethical causes.

Their work has been exhibited at institutions like The British Museum, The Design Museum, Tate Modern and the V&A Museum. If you’d like to see some of Clive’s projects, here are a few links to some of his work:

• This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll
• Extinction Rebellion Design and Messaging Toolkit
• This is Not A Drill

And if you’re interested in learning more about Green Canvas, you can find us on our website. We hope you enjoy the episode!