Create without destroying: Carmina Campus, a fashion sustainable initiative

These are the days of the Milan Fashion Week, one of the things that has attracted the attention of Sustainable diary is Carmina Campus, a collection of handbags, jewels and furniture successfully combining the idea of ethical fashion and sustainable eco-friendly, with the great traditional Italian craftsmanship.

The brand was founded in 2006 by Ilaria Venturini Fendi, who explains "With Carmina Campus I tried to fashion a new approach, enriching the body of knowledge derived from my family history with values such as respect for the environment and the implementation of work projects aimed at social development"

The creations included in the collections are under the sign of reuse and upcycle, as Carbags line, bags made with seat covers, sun screens, safety belts recovered from car in shambles. Over the years the collection Carmina Campus made in Italy has been enriched by new materials. So switches are turned into sparkling Switch Bag and bottle caps become closures for Pyramid Bag, bags reversible with an inlay made of small pieces of leather processed in a pyramid. And then there are the old color charts, which take the form of soft Soft Bag.

While the items of the collection 100% made in Africa, successfully making concrete the philosophy “not charity, just work”. In Kenia Carmina Campus has given rise to the Ethical Fashion Initiative. The project has seen the involvement of some employees of craftsmen who have passed on their know-how to local communities through a process of training on site. So the brand has launched social projects that have the objective of training microentrepreneurs, promoting education and health care. The iniative was born from the collaboration of Carmina Campus with ITC (International Trade Centre), an agency of the UN and the World Trade Organization, whose mission is to provide developing countries opportunities for training and work.

More info

website Carmina Campus

Facebookpage

Photo credit © Carmina Campus

 

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10-meter high of Plastic Bags, by Pascale Marthine Tayou

The installation Plastic Bags occupies since last spring, the Hall of the historic part of the MACRO - the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, interacting with the Odile Decq's architecture. This is the space for free passage of MACRO, which is used by the locals to move from one street to another district, just like a square from the global village.

Plastic Bags is a large installation shaped like a giant beehive, almost ten meters high by the Cameroon artist Pascale Marthine Tayou. It is made entirely from plastic bags that evoke in their simplicity, the many stories of our daily lives. They offers a colorful critique of capitalism, consumerism and widespread plastic pollution.

Everyday objects, useful as insidious, the bags have become a symbol of the growing globalization and consumerism, but also homelessness that increasingly characterizes today's society, a central theme in the artist's research.

But the journey of these plastic bags was long. In 2012 the installation was realized at gare de Paris Saint Lazare with the collaboration of the people. The work was in 2011 in Milan at Hangar Bicocca for the group exhibition "Terre Vulnerabili", and even before at Queensland Art Gallery of Brisbane, in Australia.

The common denominator of his work is the idea of travel, not only physical but also mental, that manifests itself as an ongoing cultural and geographic displacement also in the choice of materials (waste and rubble urban or everyday objects often coming from the place where he is to work). The traveler for the artist is not only a way of life, but also a psychological condition, meeting with something else, able to subvert the social, the political, economic and symbolic of our life: "It is a certainty that traveling is the hope of meeting the magic that hides the mysteries of the rational human being."

Plastic Bags will be on exhibit at Macro through April 1, 2013.

More info

website Pascale Marthine Tayou

website MACRO

Photo credit © Giorgio Benni/MACRO

 

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Urban agriculture on ship in Antwerp, by art collective Time Circus

In this day of snow in Milan, is back again to talk about urban garden, this time the project enters (or leaving?) directly from the art world.

We know that urban gardens can bloom in the weirdest of places, also on an old unused ship crane docked at Bonapartedok, the Belgian port city of Antwerp. Here the Belgian art collective Time Circus, built their great green space, and outfitted with a tree-house made out of recycled materials and a chicken coop. Another cute feature from the floating garden is a glazed greenhouse.

Commissioned by the Antwerp’s MAS Museum, the floating Welvaert Welton garden is designed to engage locals and visitors with sustainable urban farming practices, through community workshops on composting and homemade cider parties. Not only is there a vegetable garden, there's also a kitchen where food can be prepared using ingredients straight from the garden. Urban agriculture is not just about producing one’s own vegetables but more about creating an urban living, working and meeting place.

This experimental garden project is temporary, intended to go on until 2014. It is one cool example of taking back abandoned city spaces, and they can become green and productive.

Time Circus said that is ready to travel to far off places to spread the idea...

More info

website Time Circus
Facebook page

Photo credit © Time Circus

 

 

 

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Walkonomics mobile app, walking forward in the 21st Century

After talking for two days of food sustainability (monday, tuesday) now it's time to go for a nice walk. The quality and amount of walking as an everyday activity, in any given area, is an established and unique primary indicator of the quality of life. And when I read yesterday of the launch of the new Walkonomics app for iPhone and iPad I thought that was a fantastic development after the Android version. The free Walkonomics mobile app maps and rates the pedestrian-friendliness of every street in San Francisco, New York and England, yes we miss Milan and the rest of the world but let's hope it will arrive in the soon future.

Walkonomics provides 5 star ratings for each street in the following 8 main criteria:

Road safety: How safe do you feel from traffic on this street? It is influenced by actual road accident statistics (where available), street type, traffic speeds and activity.

Easy to cross: How easy it is to cross the street at regular points along the street? It is influenced by the traffic activity on the street, street width, physical barriers and provision of pedestrian crossings.

Pavements /Sidewalks: Are pavements/sidewalks provided along the street? Are they high quality? Are they wide enough? Do they have a lot of unnecessary clutter/furniture on them? Are they overcrowded?

Hilliness: Is the street flat or on a hill? How steep is any slope? If the street is steep, then are any hand-rails or seats provided?

Navigation: How easy is it to find your way around in this street and area? Is it easy to become lost here? Are any street names, pedestrian signs or maps provided?

Fear of crime: How safe do you feel from crime on this street? It is influenced by actual crime statistics (where available) as well as perceived fear or crime. Other factors include lighting, vandalism, graffiti and presence of police.

Smart and beautiful: How clean is the street? Is there much litter or vandalism? Is it regularly cleaned? Does the street have any trees or other green vegetation? Are the buildings attractive and in good condition?

Fun and relaxing: Is this a fun, interesting and popular place to be? Are there things to do in this street? Would you choose to spend time and hang-out here? Does the street have a relaxing atmosphere? Is it noisy or stressful? Can you play in this street?

Walkonomics app shows promise, we have just to wait until they expand coverage!

For the moment if you are a luck one based in New York City, San Francisco or in the UK you can get the new Walkonomics iPhone app here and for Android here.

More info

website Walkonomics

Photo credit © Walkonomics

 

 

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UFU (Urban Farming Unit) by Damien Chivialle, for re-thinking cities

Yesterday on the diary there was the fabulous story of Todmorden, a town in UK where inhabitants grow in the green public area almost all the vegetables that need. Today we write on another project of re-thinking cities, food production and consumption, UFU (UrbanFarming Unit) a solution for who that don't have a adapted places and conditions.

UFU is a farming experiment inside shipping containers created by French designer Damien Chivialle. Organic fish, fruits and vegetables are produced in the street, avoiding unnecessary travels and providing meaning to food consumption in downtown cities. All prototypes are based on circular agriculture techniques.

Normally, such a container is found in industry, but with UFU it is used to test new applications in a city context. Cycle cultures are central in the research on biological farming without land. Objectives of UFU are to find solutions for growing food under polluted and reduced ground.

Damien Chivialle places a greenery on top of a container in which a aquarium with fish is housed. The fish’s water and excrements feed the greenery plants, who in turn purify the water that flows back to the aquarium. The result: UFU (Urban Farming Unit), a self-regulating city farm the size of a parking spot.

2011’s UFU is one of many container projects in Paris, Lissabon and Zürich, and was recently shown at Brussels’ Kaaitheater. Now, until the end of February, UFU is exhibit in On Leuven’s Grote Markt as part of the Artefact Festival program. 

The last amazing thing is that this project is developed as Open Source. Download the Sketchup 3D model to make your own greenhouse >>go here

More info

website Damien Chivialle

website UFU (Urban Farming Unit)

Facebookpage

photo credit courtesy Urban Farm Units

 

 

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Incredible Edible in Todmorden: the town that grows all its vegetables

 

In England, in the county of West Yorkshire there is a small town whose people decided they were worried about climate change, food security in Africa and their children's future . It is Todmorden, a town of 14.000 inhabitants, which in 2008 started what has become the "Incredible Edible" movement.

They started growing vegetables and herbs in flower beds, the aims are to make use of 
underused areas of the community and public spaces to grow food for all to eat. The people wants “to get closer to the food we eat, education and community involvement”.

Their growing around town is organized by their community growers’ group, they are all volunteers. Most of their growing around town is done in raised beds. That means they can use fresh uncontaminated soil and avoid messing surrounding areas. Many of the beds are adopted by groups of people, who do much of the planting and maintenance themselves and may benefit from the produce too. But what is very important is: gifts from the garden to the public is allowed free access.

Last year in Todmorden were counted 70 green areas turned into urban gardens. Along the streets of the town there are plenty of fruit trees, that in the right seasons offer cherries and apricots. They are also bushes with blackberries and strawberries and the point where you can collect legumes, including beans and peas.

The project to make Todmorden the first self-sufficient city of England is expected to reach its peak in 2018.

Today there are nearly 40 independent groups across the UK and more than hundred globally flying the Incredible Edible flag. For this motive they have realize new website, due for for formal launch in April, aims to bring together all the wondrous people who have taken on the "Incredible Edible" framework across the world, as well as to inspire new members.

More info:

IncredibleEdible Todmorden

Facebook page

photo credit: courtesy of Incredible Edible

 

 

 

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Sunday's Tale - Nature integration into urban culture: Flower cushion in Bucheon City, Korea

Sunday's Tale: a post from the past

"Flower cushion" was presented in October 2012 after 2 months of work, for "Artistic Factory", a public art project by Kyonggi Art Foundation. It was initially planned as two separate commissions, one by seoul-based interdisciplinary artist Jeong Hwa Choi and the other by Korean architecture Mass Studies but, following the site visit, both decided to collaborate on single project to have a stronger impact with relatively small means.

"Flower Cushion" is located at the Piloti space at block 1 of Technopark, in Bucheon City, Korea. The existing Piloti space with an high ceiling was not well used despite of its generous size and prominent location in this highrise factory block. Therefore, they propose a gathering space that accommodates factory workers' various activities such as resting, meeting and outdoor performances, etc. At the same time, it works as a pedestal for the Choi's sculpture "You are Flower" that was created from recycled monochromatic hardware part, continuing a series of floral-form works that use the artifacts of everyday life and Korean kitsch to honor the intangible beauty of nature while understanding it's variously successful integration into urban culture.

"Flower Cushion" rises above ground, as if the blossoming of Choi's flower created the eruption. This small hill like eruption follows the existing pavement's checkerboard pattern and colors which are made of typical interlocking cement paving blocks. These "cushions" rise around the flower sculpture in an elliptical concentric form that covers around 10m X 7m in plan and 1.2m in height. The height of each "Flower Cushion" provides optimum seating conditions with various height and viewing directions. While maintaining the same colors and shape as existing cement blocks, the material for "Flower Cushion" is made of rubber chips in order to accommodate a comfortable seating condition, also they calling attention to the over-saturation of consumable and ultimately disposable objects in the digital age.

More info:

www.massstudies.com

www.choijeonghwa.com

Photo credit Kyungsub Shin, draws from Mass Studies

 

 

 

 

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