B u il d i n g t he
Dirt installation by Carl Liebhardt
E co - F u tu r e
C O N F E R EN C E B RI NG S T O G ET H E R A RT I ST S,
A R C HI T E CT S , C OM M UN I TY by Suzi Steffen
the art installations popping up outside and
inside of Lawrence Hall, is “Confluence:
Where Water Meets Design.”
HOPES began in 1995 after architec-
ture student Kevin Parker, stunned that the
UO didn’t focus on ecologically sound
design, decided to make that focus explic-
it. The weekend event now attracts well
over 500 people from as far as Namibia
and as close as downtown Eugene.
Energy swirls high when the confer-
ence begins with a “24-hour charrette.”
Teams receive an eminently practical
design assignment — last year, it was cre-
ating a garden for North Eugene High
School’s outdoor ed and childhood devel-
opment programs — and then have exact-
ly 24 hours until the design review, says
conference organizer Peter Henne. Henne
is a sophomore who runs HOPES’ spon-
soring organization, the Ecological Design
Center. He talks about this year’s water-
focused charrette with the fervor of one
who knows whereof he speaks — he
moved to the wet Willamette Valley from
the dry lands of New Mexico.
A simple clay pot mixes
political,
ecological and social needs for this year’s
challenge. Potters for Peace, an interna-
tional group, created a pot that can filter
and purify water, but the teams will have
to take that idea up a level: They’ll turn an
average shipping container into a portable
clay pot factory.
The design, says Henne, will serve as
more than just a place where people in cri-
sis situations (New Orleans after Hurricane
Katrina or villages near ecological disaster
sites) can snag a pot, made from local clay,
that will make clean water. Henne says the
portable factories will be “an identifiable
place for the community to meet” and learn
to make and use the pots. That means
graphic design elements — clear, attractive
signs that translate without language —
will be just as important as the practical
manufacturing bit.
Community members are welcome to
participate in the sleep-depriving process
that begins at 2 pm Thursday, April 19,
Henne says. Conference designers practi-
cally tremble with eagerness to get under-
way. “I’m so stoked about the charrette!”
says John Pete.
But Pete and Henne say
there’s much more to
the conference,
from
theory to actual dirt; from keynote speaker
Joan Nassauer, a professor of landscape
architecture at the University of Michigan,
to the “Ancient Art of Indigo-dyeing”
workshop. And although artist Maya Lin
(famous for the Vietnam Memorial design)
couldn’t make it to the conference, Henne
is happy to host a representative of Lin’s
massive Columbia River art-and-commu-
nity-work, the Confluence Project
(www.confluenceproject.org).
Conference director Pete loves the
opportunities for hands-on work and play
during the entire weekend. On Saturday,
conference attendees can help build a
bioswale in the parking lot near Johnson
Hall. A bioswale traps surface pollutants
and deals with them using plants, compost
and riprap, so that the water going into
storm drains ends up cleaner and healthier.
Sunday brings a workshop on taking rain
from your winter rooftop and storing it for
the dry-as-a-green-banana summer.
And there’s childcare that’s both fun
and educational. In kids’ HOPES, children
play, seriously, with eco-design. From the
“Xtreme stream simulation” to building
the bioswale to that indigo dyeing work-
shop, young ones can learn and enjoy, says
coordinator Kris Day.
The conference reaches far beyond
Eugene. With keynote speaker Nina
Maritz, an architect from Namibia; stu-
dents from Cornell University in Ithaca,
N.Y.; and professionals flying in from
Korea and Australia, HOPES isn’t
just about the students in triple-
A. Faculty adviser Brook
Muller, an associate pro-
fessor of architecture,
says the confer-
ence creates
a
buzz
among
CAROLYN MCINTYRE
W
omen in war-torn nations
won’t have to walk 30 miles a
day for water.
Buildings will limit global warming
while making bold artistic statements.
Communities will make plans and get
their hands into the dirt.
And the parties at day’s end? Those
parties will rock.
Or so run the visions of students at the
UO’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts
in charge of the Holistic Options for Planet
Earth Sustainability (HOPES) conference,
which starts Thursday, April 19, and runs
through Sunday, April 22. They say that one
of the strengths of this unique conference
lies in its focus on creating solutions.
“That’s the thing that keeps me coming
back — I leave so energized,” says confer-
ence director John Pete. Pete, a fifth-year
undergrad who’s dealing with his most
complex final projects at the same time
that he runs the conference, exudes love
for the whole dang thing. And what’s not
to love? It’s about practical people saving
the planet. This year’s theme, reflected in
APRIL 19, 2007 13