Next Event

Next LUCID NYC event is Saturday, March 14th in—sit down—Brooklyn. Thought we’d give you the Saturday for extra travel time. Just kidding of course, since A. many of you live in Brooklyn, and B. it’s not exactly in Far Rockaway.

In fact, the venue is half the attraction. Metropolitan Exchange (aka MEx) is a 7-story, 45K square-foot kingdom of progressive businesses, design firms, architects, co-working spaces, looms, bakeries, bio-labs, writers collective, woodshop and much more—all in downtown Brooklyn.

Future House of Lucid

Mitchell Joachim (see profile below), MEx member and visionary architect/urban-planner /activist, is hosting us as well as being one of the presenters.

If you have an idea for other presenters (maybe it’s you) drop us a line.

Website and Blog

The website has been modified for easier content management. The idea is to create a format that facilitates an online dialogue that’ll be brought, presumably, face-to-face at the events and beyond.

The site will post original content and re-blogs from event-goers. We’re looking for content germane to Lucid’s mission of making the world a better place (this can be interpreted in whatever way you see fit; just be willing to explain). Please shoot us a line if you have something.

See you in March if not sooner.

David Friedlander

Note: this text–with a few modifications–originally appeared in PSFK.

Mitch inside an ad hoc warehouse at 33 Flatbush (Lucid's next venue).

Asked what inspires him, Mitchell Joachim rattled off things that started with the letter G: Goethe, Gilliam, Gaudi, Gehry and his coming baby girl. But taking a look at the tall, dreadlocked architect & urban planner’s repertoire, you realize he has many other (alphabetically diverse) sources of inspiration.

With partner Maria Aiolova, Joachim founded Terreform 1, a nonprofit organization for developing “philanthropic architecture.” He sees himself largely as an architect activist: “I give a voice for people and things that can’t necessarily speak for themselves like trees and wildlife,” he told me. “Or the residents of Harlem,” he continued, where Harlemites being ousted by the campus expansion of Columbia University (where Joachim happens to be an adjunct professor). Terreform is creating an alternative plan – one that gives voice to parties other than the school’s administration and the real estate developers.

Featured as one of Wired magazine’s picks on their “2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To”, Joachim has spearheaded projects at the vanguard of design, where technology, biology, ecology and humanity seamlessly interact.

Among his creative endeavors is the Human Powered Exercise Boat, which we featured last year. There’s also the SOFT car, which Wired called “Facebook on wheels,” connecting people with transport based on locality. And we also like the Tree Fab Hab,

Tree Fab Hab

which grow homes from native trees “to replace the outdated design solutions for Habitats for Humanity” and was featured at last year’s NYC’s Moma’s Home Delivery exhibit. Then there are his endeavors at the Bioworks Institute, where he and Harvard biologist Oliver Medvedik are creating a “victimless shelter” made out of a leather-like substance formed by grafting paper using 3D printed pig cells. Joachim’s ultimate goal is to find solutions to the ecological problem that has already taken root: “The environmental revolution is over. It’s dead. It’s accepted that global warming is here and humans did it, ” Joachim told us. Now, as Joachim sees it, it’s a matter of dealing with it. Joachim is answering that question with something more than a sustainable version of old, pathological modalities. He sees our relationship to our environment like that of a complex commitment, like a marriage. As he explained to Wired: “You don’t want your marriage to be sustainable. You want to be evolving, nurturing, learning.”

David Friedlander

If you’ve been to lucidnyc.com before, you’re aware that this website is not the same as days of yore. I’m modifying it to allow event news, content from the Lucid community, as well as general information.

I’m actively looking for contributors–particularly posts from people who’ve attended Lucid events and are familiar with what we’re doing (if not, see about). I’m happy to re-blog your posts from other blogs if that helps. Contact me with submissions/questions at dfriedlander@lucidnyc.com

I’m going to be screwing with the website layout for the next week, so if there’s a dead link, strange or shifting layout, bear with me for a second.

Lastly, next event is March 14th. I’ll be shooting out as many details as I can shortly.

Thanks for stopping by. More later.

David Friedlander

Last month rocked. Katrin Verclas, Graham Hill, Sem Devillart and Ben Donaldson created an intimidatingly high benchmark for the quality (bios here).

The only way to maintain that level of quality this month was to cancel. Whether it was the spring thaw, the upcoming Presidents Day or the Westminster Kennel Dog Show, we just weren’t able to assemble the kind of people you’re beginning to expect will present.

Fear not, there is still much Lucidity in the world–NEXT EVENT IS MARCH 14TH. Details coming soon.

Image by Doug Mills/The New York Times