architecture

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Architect Martin Hammer recently returned from Pakistan where he has been working to bring straw bale and other sustainable building practices to the mountainous region devastated by the 2005 earthquake, which was responsible for over 80,000 deaths, and left millions without permanent shelter. He'll give us an update on the work he presented last year, as well as provide details about straw bale construction. Straw bale construction is earthquake resistant, energy and resource efficient, and an affordable solution to northern Pakistan's enormous reconstruction needs. Martin Hammer has been involved with the design, engineering, and construction of straw bale buildings since 1995, and is the lead author of the proposed straw bale building code for the State of California. In 2006 he co-founded Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building. Come join us for this informative talk and slideshow.

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Back from a recent tour of major European cities in which he was armed with just a folding bike, David Baker will reflect on the different approaches to sustainable urbanism that he encountered. He will share ideas and images from the optimistic Towards Car-Free Cities conference in Istanbul, the sleek success of Paris's Velib' bicycle program, and the effects of London's congestion tax as well as the city's architecture festival, Open House London. David Baker FAIA has been practicing architecture for nearly 30 years, and in 1996 was selected as fellow of the American Institute of Architects. With a focus on sustainable affordable housing, his award-winning firm David Baker + Partners has come to be known for combining social concern with a signature design character. A progressive urban activist and bicyclist, he has also been a teacher, a union carpenter, and a philosophy major.

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