Ambientalista

Nˆ1 February 2018

Ambientalista WATER IS LIFE

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From this moment on, Ambientalista will try to take care of dealing with the most urgent topics about environment, also for the people who care about our world.

The importance of water for our planet is something obvious and often forgotten.

We decided to bother again about it because we strongly believe there are some campaigns which could not stop.

In this volume some particular points of view are proposed in order to break the usual boring narration about this topic, hoping our effort can attract attention on the urgency of water shortage.

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INDEX

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Stories from the world 6 | What South Africa can teach the world about aqua–hacking 8 | How the persian gulf might solve its water problem 12 | Could water — and women —be key to ending extreme poverty?

14 | A lake under the sea Interviews 16 | Giuseppe la spada: a Man, an Artist 22 | “Trashion” designer Marina De Bris 26 | Andy Goldsworthy: natural sculptures Architecture 30 | “Bioclimatic” house 36 | Sustainable house Travel: Argentina 40 | Road Trip on Eight Wheels 44 | 7 Breathtaking Photos from Torres del Paine National Park

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STORIES FROM THE WORLD

WHAT SOUTH AFRICA CAN TEACH THE WORLD ABOUT AQUA– HACKING

By Nick Dall

“CRITICAL WATER SHORTAGE! DAMS AT 11.2%,” reads a roadside sign that usually notifies drivers of accidents.

South Africa it’s now considered a sin to have a green lawn or take a luxurious soak in the tub. These days I shower (two minutes, no more) with buckets at my feet, which, once full, are used to flush the loo. And my kids bathe in 2 inches of water, which is then diverted onto a flower bed. Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate, but the combination of an expanding population, an extended dry cycle and a lack of municipal foresight has brought the situation to a dramatic and desiccated head.

According to local installers, a basic garden irrigation system for an average family home in Cape Town costs about $1,000 and cuts consumption wby around 30 percent, for annual savings of $150.

On its own, reusing gray water will not solve the world’s water problems, but coupled with improved consumption habits and rainwater harvesting it could go a long way toward reducing our reliance on municipal water. Intewa, a German water-solutions company, reports a 400 percent increase in sales on domestic units in the past three years.

It is absolutely preposterous that any drinking water should ever be used for irrigation purposes.

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His breakthrough product was a simple “sump and pump” irrigation system that diverts water directly to a sprinkler when a shower or washing machine is turned on. He has since added the aptly named Second Movement system that uses gray water to flush toilets. “It is absolutely preposterous,” says Taylor, “that any drinking water should ever be used for irrigation purposes.The current water restrictions are how it should be all the time.” (In the past two years, restrictions and public appeals have enabled Cape Town to reduce its daily water consumption by 40 percent.)

In the 1980s, it dawned on this former city councilor that Cape Town would probably run out of water by 2005 (it ended up taking 10 years longer), and so he started looking for solutions. After a few years of tinkering,Taylor founded Water Rhapsody in 1994.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE? Because bathwater is good for more than just bathing.

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STORIES FROM THE WORLD

HOW THE PERSIAN GULF MIGHT SOLVE ITS WATER PROBLEM

By Catherine Cheney

It’s yet another searing day in the desert outside of Doha, Qatar, where Sunil Malik, a construction manager at a power and water plant, seems to be peering from under his hard hat toward the temptingly cool waters of the Persian Gulf. He’s not on a break — Malik is standing by a row of aging exhaust pipes that rise like towers from the sand, and watching old pumps and faded pipes slurp up seawater. All of that liquid is heated and converted into steam, bringing this tiny country of 2.1 million nearly all of its daily drinking water.

Residents here, whose water usage is the highest in the world per capita, know all too well that trouble is brewing: Demand for water is forecast to grow by more than 50 percent by 2022, and “there is only one bathtub to draw from,” says Jonathan Smith, a sustainability adviser who helped develop Qatar’s food security program. But weathered plants — like the one Malik works at — use an old-school (though tried and true) process for removing salts and minerals from nearby seawater that’s extremely expensive, energy-intensive and environmentally destructive. Which is why it’s such a big deal that new independent water projects are coming to town, and that they’re bringing with them fancy 8

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE? Because one country’s new approach to providing freshwater might just turn the tide in an entire region.

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STORIES FROM THE WORLD

FOR DECADES, THE SIX GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL NATIONS HAVE RELIED MOSTLY ON THE GAS-GUZZLING EQUIVALENT FOR DESALINATING WATER.

tech that could help not only Qatar but this entire region to take a more sustainable approach to providing freshwater for its desert dwellers.

Specifically, the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation is working with the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation on two plants that are worth roughly $525 million and will use today’s gold standard in water desalination technology — saltwater reverse osmosis. These plants could turn the tide here, experts say, encouraging the region to fully embrace greener practices within the water desalination industry.

After all, the six countries in the political and economic union known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, account for over 40% of the world’s desalinated water and have relied mostly on a gas-guzzling, truckdriving equivalent process, which typically requires using thermal energy, or heat.

Reverse osmosis, by comparison, uses filters or membranes to force water through tiny holes that separate salt and water molecules.

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Water, water everywhere, and only desalinated drops to drink.

No wonder “thermal desalination is dying a slow death in the region,” says Tom Pankratz, editor of the Water Desalination Report.

Sure, it might not sound that technologically impressive on the surface. But dive a little deeper and you’ll discover that reverse osmosis actually takes about four times less energy than today’s more widely used desalination process in the Middle East (aka “multistage flash distillation”) and also sucks up 10 times less water. Needless to say, this shift is a big deal for countries and companies around the world that are expected to splash out $8.6 billion this year on water desalination products and services, up 9 percent from last year, according to market research firm the Freedonia Group. And given that per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is higher here than anywhere else in the world, “Qatar has an opportunity to dream big and plan in a way that very few other countries can,” Dana Shell Smith, the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, says.

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STORIES FROM THE WORLD

COULD WATER — AND WOMEN —BE KEY TO ENDING EXTREME POVERTY?

By Jason Hickel

IN AFRICA ALONE, WOMEN SPEND A CUMULATIVE 200 MILLION HOURS ON AVERAGE EVERY DAY COLLECTING WATER.

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That number comes from the United Nations Development Programme, and is cited by Scott Harrison, founder of the non profit Charity: Water, as one of the most important numbers shaping his organization’s approach to providing water in developing regions. Gender is intrinsically linked to the issue of wasted time.

Today, there are 1 billion fewer people living in extreme poverty than in 1980, less than 10 percent of the world’s population, compared to more than 40 percent four decades ago.

The swift improvement is largely due to rapid economic growth in East and South Asia.

But the remaining population of the global impoverished is the hardest to reach — mostly in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa — making it more necessary than ever to identify and prioritize the interventions that can do the most to help.

Globally, women spend more total time working than men. Although men perform almost twice as much paid work as women, the opposite is true of women’s unpaid work by a factor of three.

And it turns out that one of the most important factors to focus on may come from a surprising place — not health care, nutrition, education or economic growth, but time. The time spent on arduous domestic duties in developing regions can sink hundreds of hours per month for women and girls, which could otherwise be spent productively.

Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80 percent of households.

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STORIES FROM THE WORLD

SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND A LAKE UNDER THE SEA THOSE WHO SWIM THERE WON’T COME BACK ALIVE.

by Eric Niiler

THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THESE EXTREME HABITATS ON EARTH AS MODELS FOR WHAT WE MIGHT DISCOVER WHEN WE GO TO OTHER PLANETS.

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Scientists have found an alien, inhospitable world not in the far reaches of the galaxy, but on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico –about a day’s boat ride from New Orleans. Dubbed the “Jacuzzi of Despair”, this pool of super-salty brine kills any unfortunate creature that happens to wonder in – mainly benthic crabs, amphipods and an occasional fish.

The Jacuzzi of Despair stands apart from the surrounding sea inside a wall of salt deposits, bacteria, and giant mussels that feed on hydrogen sulfide and methane gas. Just inside the pool’s rim, the scientists saw creatures like isopods the size of laptops and deep-sea crabs that had crawled in and are now preserved in the toxins. Scientists visited the pool in Alvin, a research submersible, from the exploration ship E/V Nautilus; their journey from the surface to the Jacuzzi of Despair took nearly an hour.

The circular pool – about 100 feet in circumference and about 12 feet deep – lies nearly 3,300 feet below the surface of the Gulf.

It contains water that is four or five times saltier than the surrounding seawater.

There’s a lot of people looking at these extreme habitats on Earth as models for what we might discover when we go to other planets. The technology development in the deep sea is definitely going to be applied to the worlds beyond our own.

Scientists have discovered an otherworldly brine lake around 3,300 feet under the surface of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico. Called the “Jacuzzi of Despair,” the deep-sea pool is comprised of a toxic brew of salt, hydrogen sulfide, and methane gas, and any creature that inadvertently wanders in tends to die.

A strange ‘lake’ of super salty dense water is discovered on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where salt deposits bubble up along with methane.

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INTERVIEWS

Giuseppe La Spada: a Man, an Artist

By Alessandra Frega

MILAN, Italy — We are proud to introduce you to Giuseppe La Spada. An Italian digital artist, one of the most interesting creative designers of the moment.

Famous for working with the natural elements exalting through innovative systems and technology, Giuseppe explains his love for water, “water is a moment of suspension, a suspension between ancestral dualisms, life and death, light and darkness, visible and invisible, in the flow of this eternal movement that is life”.

MIGRANTS DIVING IN A HUMAN DRAMA

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Giuseppe La Spada was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1974. In 2003 he graduated with honours in Digital Design at the European Design Institute (IDE) in Rome.

During the same year, he was invited to Opera Totale 7 as one of the five best emergent Italian web designers. In 2007, he won the prestigious Webby Award for his supporting role in the project “Stop Rokkasho” by the Academy Award winner, Ryuichi Sakamoto with the acclaimed “Mono no aware”, an entirely ecological website. Two years later, Giuseppe worked with Sakamoto and Fennesz during the tournèe Cendre, which ended with the unforgettable show at Ground Zero in New York City.

As an independent artist Giuseppe dedicates most of his work to videos and installations. One of his most extraordinary installations, “With All Your Senses” designed for Cà Del Bosco features the water element like protagonist Voluptas, a mythological figure floating in the autumn’s waters.

Future projects will include the writing of a book or the making of a film to leave a mark on the world.

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INTERVIEWS

IN A CHANGING SEA

“Stiamo diventando plastica, nel cuore, nel

“We are becoming plastic, in the heart, in the

modo di pensare. Quintali di plastica nei mari

way of thinking. Plastic quintals in the seas are

stanno generando l’embrione del futuro.”

generating the embryo of the future. “

Giuseppe La Spada

Giuseppe La Spada

La bellezza ha sempre mosso la mia ricerca.

Un antico detto Giapponese recita “Il bello è la conseguenza del giusto”, mi sono chiesto se fosse ancora attuale soprattuttoanalizzando una delle creazioni più “belle” e “funzionali” dell’uomo. La sua forma, la sua trasparenza mi ha affascinato sin da bambino, per le sue utilità, i suoi colori. Oggi non so quanto questa bellezza, questo elemento, la Plastica, sia anche giusto, quantomeno nella sua gestione, dato che viene dismesso quasi sempre dopo il suo utilizzo. Sembra un paradosso che sia nato per contenere l’acqua e oggi ci troviamo proprio davanti all’esatto contrario. Ogni volta che entro in acqua, sento che dobbiamo fare i conti con un mare che sta cambiando, con un elemento estraneo che sta letteralmente invadendo l’elemento più prezioso per la sopravvivenza del pianeta.

My beauty has always moved my research.

An ancient Japanese saying reads “Beauty is the consequence of the right”, I asked myself if it was still relevant above all analyzing one of the most “beautiful” and “functional” creations of man. Its shape, its transparency has fascinated me since childhood, for its usefulness, its colors. Today I don’t know how much this beauty, this element the Plastic, is also right, at least in its management, since it is almost always decommissioned after its use. It seems a paradox that was born to contain water and today we are right in front of the exact opposite. Every time I enter the water, I feel that we have to deal with a sea that is changing, with a foreign element that is literally invading the element more precious for the survival of the planet.

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Ryuichi Sakamoto. That same evening also David Bowie, Beastie Boys and YouTube founders received an award.

In 2008 he worked with Sakamoto and Fennesz during the tournèe “Cendre”, which ended with the unforgettable show at Ground Zero in New York. In 2010 he gave life, to “Afleur”, a live show which he also declined in a very particular and ecological object-book.

In 2009 create ‘Afleur’ , an art project that in 2011 was part of Digitalife2digital art exhibition, between the works of Marina Abramovic, Christian Marclay, Carsten Nicolai, Ryoichi Kurokawa and many other eminent contemporary artist.

The rappresentative picture of the event, itself, was his creation.

Giuseppe La Spada is an interdisciplinary artist inspired by nature, poetry and soundwith a strong passion for systematic thinking.

He was born in Palermo in 1974, but he grew up in Milazzo. In 2002 he graduated with honors in Digital Design at Istituto Europeo di Designin Rome, where he remained as a professor until 2004.

In 2006 Istituto Europeo di Design Rome conferred him the prize for best carrier in Visual Arts. In 2007 he won the prestigious Webby Awards, thanks to an ecological web project:the website “Mono No Aware” in support of the project “Stop Rokkasho” founded by Oscar winner

+PLASTIC

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INTERVIEWS In 2011, with the participation of more than 600 people, he staged an impressive tree in Piazza Duomo (Milan) in order to raise public awareness on t he problem of pollution. In 2012 curated the Ca’ Del Bosco event ‘With All Your Senses’, where he created an interactive multisensorial artwork well appreciated by critics and press.

From the same year is also a video ‘Hana no ame’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto composer for Kizuna World project to raise donation for Japan Earthquake victims. In 2014 his digital manipulation were exhibit in ‘Tate Loud Collective’, in Tate Britain.

In 2015 his artwork ‘Migrants’ was digitally displayed at Louvre, Exposure Award.

In the same year in October the artist present at Triennale a Milano ‘Sublimis’, his interdisciplinare project related with Humans and Water, developed in collaboration with international scientists and artists , as Ryuichi Sakamoto who create the indent music composition Shizen no Koe. The same project was presented also in Seaport Museum, New York, in 2016. Always in 2016 he had his solo-exhibition ”Underwater” at Ecomuseo del Mare, Palermo.

AVISION - SILENTIUM

Now He lives and works in Milan, in a relentless research, embarked as not only an aesthetic artistic misision, but also a truly human and ethic one, aiming tho give a real contribution to human society.

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Describe yourself in 140 characters.

I am a person that is always looking for something new. The Germans use the term “der suchende” to define a person who is never satisfied and goes to the bottom of things.

Where does your passion for the Web come from? How do art and new technologies harmoniously co-exist?

I was lucky to grow up when the first computer models appeared. In addition, the image and the expressive research has always been very important in my family. These two things offered me the opportunity to express my ideas in a different way every time. Today everyone can use a computer. It is just important not to let technology take over on our lives. Through my art, I want to break down the geographic boundaries and compare myself to different realities.

Everything comes from research and a blend of various elements. I love to translate communication and raw ideas into 360° creative projects making use of all the different media channels available today.

ATLANTIDE

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INTERVIEWS

‘TRASHION’ DESIGNER MARINA DEBRIS TURNS OCEAN RUBBISH INTO HIGH-END OUTFITS IN PICTURES

A Captive Audience, modelled

by Daniya Mussina This dress is made from fishingnets collected in the Pacific Gyre by Captain Charles Moore. It was shot on Playa del Rey beach, California.

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INTERVIEWS

Cuidado, modelled

by Nana Ghana

Marina de Bris, the artist

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‘Cuidado’ means ‘be careful’ in Spanish, and this creation is made from caution tape found on the beaches of Los Angeles.

Art should not be ”likeable”, it is mainly for expressing emotions. It has to be indiscreet, it is for asking questions and offering new perspectives. It is meant to bring a change in our souls, to bring them closer into a complete connection. If all that I said above is true, then I think there is someone who completely encompasses all these ideas. Her name is Marina DeBris, an Australian based artist and she is transforming the garbage of others or plastic objects into real works of art, from the dresses (the Trashion concept, the term is referring to the fashion clothes that no one wants to wear, which are made from trash), to impressive sculptures. It has been included in the top 30 most influential contemporary women artists in the world, at the moment. Currently, she lives in Australia. She is an activist who aspires to make people aware of the effects and consequences of environmental pollution through her work.

Her art is a manifest against the collective carelessness, against the oceans that are polluted, against the animals that are suffocating themselves in the sea of ​​plastic, against all that is wrong in the world.

The heart of the ocean is actually stabbed by all the “souvenirs” left behind. Turtles with deformed shell because of the plastic circles or a seahorse that keeps an ear stick tight are the sad image, we have to confront globally. An object thrown by us on land can also get to “travel” in the waters.

Every year, eight million tons of plastic material arrive in the ocean, and in 2025 annual output is expected to be almost doubled according to a report on pollution.

Takeaway Queen, modelled

by Alicia Marie Brower 25

INTERVIEWS

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY NATURAL SCULPTURES

By Katherine Cusumano

Andy Goldsworthy is an extraordinary, innovative British artist whose collaborations with nature produce uniquely personal and intense artworks. Using a seemingly endless range of natural materials he creates outdoor sculpture that manifests, however fleeting, a sympathetic contact with the natural world.

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“You’re trying to deal with that moment of harmony, or equilibrium, in this impossibly visceral sort of atmosphere,” Goldsworthy explains. The work encapsulates the tension and the resistance, or as he says, “that quiet moment in all that chaos,” which is rife in his works made throughout the past 40 years.

“Andy Goldsworthy: Leaning into the Wind” is a rare collection for the artist; it showcases images in which Goldsworthy uses his own body (and all its functions: spitting, digging, jumping, throwing) as a subject, even though he’s arguably better known for sculptures made of media found in the natural world—twigs, mud, flower petals, icicles— that often begin to come apart during assemblage.

But through a combination of vintage still and moving images from the ’70s and ’80s with more recent pieces, the exhibit proves that Goldsworthy has never really left the body.

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INTERVIEWS “The sensation of doing is what drove a lot of the body works,” he says. “It was about contact, about touch, about working. And you can only do that for so long before it becomes a little hollow and a little meaningless.” These sensations pulled him away from explicitly corporeal images, though the body continues to play an integral role in permanent and ephemeral works alike—even those that don’t directly depict the human form.

The show at Galerie Lelong coincides with the release of Ephemeral Works 2004-2014, a massive tome filled with images of fleeting sculptures.

He assures us the timing of the installation and book is pure coincidence, but it’s his first gallery show in five years and first book in eight, so if it is coincidence, it’s also serendipitous.

A self-described “private person,” Goldsworthy began the conversation quite reserved, becoming more animated over the near-hour that we spoke.

His young son also joined the discussion, as he sat nearby, plugged into Despicable Me, punctuating our interview with the occasional laugh.

“It sounded like he was giggling at my answers, it’s great,” Goldsworthy says.

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GREEN ARCHITECTURE

Timber-framed "bioclimatic" house with larch cladding

by Tectonique Alyn Griffiths For architects, designing a house is an adventure, but reality is often not as easy as foreseen. The site is complicated, the neighbours are unhappy, the unforeseen factors are really not foreseen, construction work is not as fast as planned, the ecological goals are difficult to reach, and the contractors are not as qualified as specified, and so on – the list is long.

In this situation, the architect will be the arbitrator and the ground-breaker. In the end, the construction seems simple and natural.

This “bioclimatic” house on the edge of Lyon features a timber frame, cladding of larch and composite timber, and a planted roof.

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GREEN ARCHITECTURE The story of the Villa B. follows the classic scenario of construction on a bare site, at the edge of a city, in the middle of market gardens, on a strip of land that is well-oriented. Averse to the stereotypes of the private housing development on the edge of which it is located, and inspired by the image of F.L. Wright’s Usonian Houses and Case Study Houses, the designers make use of the site’s potential to apply the basic principles of the bioclimatic approach. The house quickly takes the shape of a compact whole that presents a simple timber cube very open to the surrounding landscape. As always, Tectoniques avoided the temptation of designing this scheme with a predetermined form to match a desired image, but instead asserted a principle of “no design”.

The house is built using dry construction methods and features a prefabricated modular timber framebuilt on a concrete slab with larch cladding covering the exterior.

On the upper floor, the layout organisation starts from the core and opens onto the bedrooms.

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family’s ways of life and their ability to adapt to induced behaviour.Priority is given to a house that serves the users, the idea that they have of it, how they plan to live in it and how to make the site their own. This is the basis of the architect’s work: then the technology follows.

The bioclimatic approach, a pure attitude to architecture Benefiting from a long experience of dry construction and timber frame construction, and well-versed in environmental questions for more than twenty years, the firm chooses to design with a bioclimatic approach. It experiments with several options and technical solutions with which it builds a strategy.

The scheme takes the form of a compact house, well placed in the middle of its site, with a highperformance envelope. Oriented north-south and very open on the south side to benefit from solar gain, the house divided space in two gardens with terraces with very differents and complementary uses and atmospheres.

Looking into different options for construction and thermal aspects, the firm investigates different technical possibilities for insulation, heating and air handling, from which it chooses a consistent solution that is appropriate for the 33

GREEN ARCHITECTURE

The house faces due south. Largely glazed, it benefits from solar gain, while being protected by brise-soleil adjustable louver sun breaks to control stronger sunshine in the summer, spring and autumn. Open onto the south and east, its upper floor is closed on the north, and the west side only has small openings for the showers and bathrooms.

The plan: through views and transparency, intermediate and multipurpose spaces The plan is efficient, almost square, measuring 10 x 11m. Along the west of the ground floor is a garage finished in black pannels timber composite, extended by a canopy. Free and open, it is organised around a central core that contains the services: cellar, networks, shower/bath room, and kitchen. All the rooms form a ring around this hub. Uninterrupted through views and continual contact with nature are maintained by using sliding partitions and large glazed areas facing each other.

Since the local climate is strongly contrasted, with peaks of heat and cold, this plan layout allows maximum occupation of the patios according to the seasons, sheltered from the wind. In the long term, a variety of intermediate and peripheral elements may enhance the existing and vary the spaces, according to the weather and the seasons, such as arbours, canopies, pergolas, etc.

A strip of storage areas runs along the full height of the west wall. The overall scheme creates a multipurpose space, open onto the south and north gardens and the patios. Consistency is created between the building and the external spaces, which enhance each other. The living area becomes larger than the space delimited by walls.

On the upper floor, the system is reversed: the layout organisation starts from the core and opens onto the bedrooms. Following the principle of separation 34

of daytime and night- time areas, the upper floor is occupied by four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bedrooms face south and east, while the bathrooms open to the west.

In addition to the clearly-identified living areas, the house has intermediate and multipurpose spaces. This is the case on the ground floor, which, with its sliding partitions, can have several layouts; also, some rooms that are not set aside for any specific purpose can be reconfigured according to the time of day e.g. studylaundry-computer room or guest bedroom-studymusic room. This adaptability is a response to the need to manage both privacy and communal life within the family home.

On the left page: wood is used throughout the interior, with furniture and storage constructed from pale wood panels.

On the bottom: the floors are made from poured concrete and white plasterboard walls keep the spaces bright.

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GREEN ARCHITECTURE

SUSTAINABLE HOUSE ON THE GEUL BY UPFRNT AND ZWARTHOUT Amy Frearson

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THIS RIVERSIDE HOLIDAY HOUSE IN SOUTH LIMBURG, THE NETHERLANDS, IS RAISED ON TREE TRUNKS TO PREVENT FLOODING AND CLAD WITH CHARRED WOOD TO REDUCE THE NEED FOR MAINTENANCE.

The small residence was designed by architecture studio Upfrnt, alongside charred timber consultancy Zwarthout. It is located on the banks of the fast-flowing Geul river, where construction is usually restricted to protect the environment, but was permitted as it replaced several dilapidated structures. The design team used the traditional Japanese Shou-Sugi-Ban technique to burn the surfaces of the cedar cladding panels, creating a sealed surface that will protect itself and almost never need repairs.

The floor of the house is raised up by over a metre on a series of reinforced oak logs, as the nearby river is prone to frequent flooding.

A wooden bridge links the entrance to the woodland pathway behind, while a series of steps leads down to the water’s edge. The house incorporates several sustainable technologies that minimise its carbon footprint. “Upfrnt strive to design buildings that are in harmony with their environment,” explains Weijnen.

Alongside triple glazing and thick insulation, the house uses solar energy for heating and electricity. Waste water is also collected and filtered, so that it can be fed back into the river.

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GREEN ARCHITECTURE Site plan To enable a speedy construction, the house was prefabricated in Amsterdam by construction firm WHD Interieurbouw and was assembled on site in just three months.

West elevation An interesting challenge for all parties was the frequent flooding of the river. In order to prevent water damage, the house was raised on poles made from local trees. A risen path was created to connect the house with the alley behind it.

Upfrnt strive to design buildings that are in harmony with their environment. The house is built following passive principles and has a low carbon footprint. Extra insulation and triple glass ensure year round comfort. Warm water is generated by solar heating.

Floor plan We’ve featured several houses on Dezeen with charred timber facades. Others include a curved house in Japan and an extension to a millkeeper’s house in England. See more architecture featuring blackened wood. Here’s some extra information from the design team: tucked away on the banks of the River Geul in South Limburg is a unique new holiday house created

by Upfrnt architects, WHD Interieurbouw and Zwarthout. Permission to build on the Geul, one of Holland’s few fast flowing rivers is rarely granted because of the impact on the environment. Nevertheless the local council of Gulpen-Wittem was prepared to support this sustainable project in exchange for the removal of the original dilapidated buildings.

Electricity for cooking and heating is provided by solar panels elsewhere on the grounds. Sewage connection is unnecessary due to the use of a Helofytenfilter. Waste water is filtered and purified allowing it to flow back into the river cleaned. Use of the underground ventilation pipe for warming and cooling the incoming air increases living comfort considerably.

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South elevation The complexity of building on stilts and the innovative sustainable character of the house required a resourceful team. Amsterdam based building company WHD Interieurbouw worked together with ZwartHout and the architect to bring this project to successful completion.

Despite huge window panes and an expansive view, the house is extremely private due to the positioning on the property. The house was prefabricated in Amsterdam and constructed on site. The silver sheen on the black exterior is the result of using the Shou-Sugi-Ban technique (Japanese burning of cedar panels) rendering the house virtually maintenance free. The building was completed within three months.

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TRAVEL ADVENTURES

Two Adventurers' Inspiring Road Trip on Eight Wheels Two wheelchair-bound friends are driving from Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina, to Washington, D.C., to encourage others to live life joyfully.

By Kate Siber

Maciej Kaminski (left) and Michal Woroch customized a Land Rover Defender for their epic road trip.

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It seemed like a crazy idea: two wheelchairbound men embarking on a 10,000-mile road trip around Europe. But in 2012, Polish friends Maciej Kaminski, a poker player, and Michal Woroch, a graphic designer and photographer, threw caution out the window and set off on the trip of a lifetime.They encountered plenty of obstacles, getting their vehicle stuck in sand and even being attacked and robbed.

By the time they returned to Poland at the end of their trip, they were hooked on travel—and ready for an even bigger challenge.

Can you give those of us who are able-bodied a sense of what it’s like to travel in a wheelchair?

Maciej Kaminski: Traveling in a wheelchair requires a lot of patience. One has to learn how to wait. If there is a step that you cannot get up yourself, you have to be patient and not get frustrated. Sometimes, it is necessary to ask for help, and in 99 out of a hundred cases you receive such assistance.

An example of this sort of situation happened just two days ago. Before boarding the plane from Buenos Aires, we found out that disabled persons are required by the airline to have accompanying caregivers to assist during the flight, which of course we did not have.With an hour to depart, we were looking for people flying to Buenos Aires who would be willing to be our guardians. Luckily, we managed to find a young couple that agreed to do just that.

People often help us, and the story from the airport seems to confirm this.

For the past two and a half years, Kaminski, 31, and Woroch, 32, researched the possibility of an even bigger undertaking: a road trip through South America.The pair won the Andrzej Zawada Award, a Polish grant for young explorers, to fund their trip, and outfitted a 1996 Land Rover Defender with a kitchen, heater, automatic transmission, and equipment that allows them to control the gas and brake pedals with their hands.They also installed two lifts, one to help them get into the van and another to help them access the rooftop sleeping tent.

How did you guys get started traveling?

Michal Woroch: The trip through Europe was our first expedition together. Earlier, my friends were taking me on their trips to make me stop thinking that disability was the end of the world. Looking back, I am very grateful to them for having shown me that one can live differently.

It taught me that we are often creating restrictions for ourselves.

Of course, positive thinking will not remove the difficulties associated with travels in a wheelchair. For these trips, I learned that the desire to explore new worlds is more important and can overcome the rigors of travel; the effort is only an element of the expedition, not a hindrance.

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What have been some of the challenges you’ve had to tackle as you figure out how to travel with disabilities?

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenges of this trip?

MW: For me personally, the greatest challenge will be the high altitude.

I wonder how my body will cope with the altitude sickness.

MW: The internal process of the positive thinking began when I was preparing an expedition to Mongolia in 2008.

Before the trip, I knew ahead of time that there would be a stretch of the road to cover using only horses.The aim of the project was to reach and shoot a documentary film on the Tsaatan, the nomad group breeding reindeer in the northern mountains, a three-day horseback ride away from Tsagaan Lake.

After a few lessons, I kept hearing from my horseback-riding instructors the same thing, over and over, that it was impossible to survive on horseback for more than one hour in my health condition.

In spite of it all, I designed a special harness so that I could secure myself in the saddle and ride for three days navigating through river swamps, forests, and hills.That experience taught me that creative thinking and determination empowers us to reach out for the greatest dreams.

MK: The trials will be waiting for us all the time.We must avoid even the slightest error in handling our Land Rover and equipment installed on it.There are a lot of winches, ropes, and hoists. Injury for one of us would mean the end of the adventure.

On the previous expedition we were attacked and robbed of our cameras. Looking back at this situation, I would say that we should be more vigilant. Our greatest weapon in South America will be our gut feeling, intuition, and a sense of anticipation.We must keep our eyes and ears wide open.

What do you hope to see on this trip?

MW:This expedition is not about attractions to see and setting the goals. First of all, it is about experiencing continuous movement, just being with the silence of the landscape and the sound of the car engine. It is about passing the long distance, getting there, and coming back home. It’s about getting to know others and understanding each other. It is also about the wheelchair and dealing with our disability, with our own bodies and clearing our minds.

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7 Breathtaking Photos from Torres del Paine National Park Photographer Michael George traveled to Patagonia and returned with a story of a lifetime.

An early visitor to Chile’s Torres del Paine called it “one of the most spectacular sights that human imagination can conceive.” Photographer Michael George traveled there to find out why.

What to Know: Puerto Natales is the closest big town; buses travel the four-hour route to and from the park (quicker if by car).

Accommodations range from design-forward upscale lodges to campsites and dormlike refugio rooms. Torres del Paine National Park charges an entrance fee: for adults in high season, 18,000 Chilean pesos ($28); low season, 10,000 CLP ($16).

A journey through the wilds of Torres del Paine National Park is no small feat.

To fully experience this rugged and beautiful landscape, it requires driving, hiking, horseback riding, and boating in unpredictable conditions. But the rewards are unparalleled: sunsets on the lagoon, hikes to the edges of glaciers, and sweeping views that will get your heart racing.

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Chilean cowboys known as baqueanos “demonstrate a deep connection to nature,” says George, “and they treat their horses with a parental tenderness.”

Hues of blue light up Grey Glacier, which is thinning at double the rate it did one decade ago.

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A lamb that is being smoked is painted with coriander and water to prevent it from drying out.

A man climbs out over Laguna Azul, meaning Blue Lagoon.

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French Glacier on Paine Grande mountain was named after a French climber’s expedition.

The towers as seen from Mirador Torres at early morning as first sunlight shines on the three peaks.

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A Local’s Guide to Buenos Aires To discover the charm of this vibrant city, slow down.

By Annie Bacher Argentina’s capital is a beautiful mix of chaos, intensity, frustration, and love. Foreigners are drawn to this city for the tango, the Malbec, and the romance, but after living here for a while, it’s the subtler things that keep me around.

Dancers perform a tango at Plaza Dorrego in San Telmo, Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires welcomed me with the longest strike in the hundred-year history of Argentina’s subway system. Ten days of horrific traffic forced me to tackle a daily 60-block walking commute. All that walking forced me to adapt to the simultaneously slow and chaotic pace of life in Buenos Aires. Four years later, I wouldn’t choose any other city.

Argentina’s capital is a beautiful mix of chaos, intensity, frustration, and love. Foreigners are drawn to Ambientalista this city for the tango, the Malbec, and the romance, bybut Stefania Zanetti after living here for a while, it’s the subtler things that keep me around. While it takes a bit ofPublished patience toin Madrid, January 2018 enjoy it, I will never get bored of the people, the crazy Facultad de Bellas Artes, UCM never ending streets, and the food of Buenos Aires.

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I admire porteños—as residents of this port city call themselves—for their characteristically easygoing attitude, but that ability to go with the flow is not without its share of economic tumult and political instability. When you’ve lived your whole life in a country with a political and economic roller coaster like that of Argentina, flexibility becomes a necessity. Residents struggle against a history of unpredictable economic conditions, recurring crises, and rising prices in the face of a yearly inflation rate of more than 40 percent.

Buenos Aires welcomed me with the longest strike in the hundred-year history of Argentina’s subway system. Ten days of horrific traffic forced me to tackle a daily 60-block walking commute. All that walking forced me to adapt to the simultaneously slow and chaotic pace of life in Buenos Aires.

Four years later, I wouldn’t choose any other city.

Argentina’s capital is a beautiful mix of chaos, intensity, frustration, and love. Foreigners are drawn to this city for the tango, the Malbec, and the romance, but after living here for a while, it’s the subtler things that keep me around.While it takes a bit of patience to enjoy it, I will never get bored of the people, the crazy never ending streets, and the food of Buenos Aires.

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