2013.07.27 - Nuuk to Reykjavik

On Saturday - July 27th - we departed Greenland for a short layover in Reykjavik.  We decided to include a night in Reykjavik in our schedule to visit the city.  As we sat in the Nuuk airport awaiting our flight on Saturday morning we sat patiently as the flight was delayed by 30 minutes.  As 30 minutes became 50 minutes we began to speculate (we had been told getting in and out of Greenland could be an adventure).  After a few minutes of wondering what could be going on ... the fog that sat in earlier in the morning had finally cleared ... we heard an announcement in Greenlandic, then Danish, and finally in English.  Our flight to Reykjavik had been cancelled and we would not be departing for Reykjavik until the following day, at the earliest.  The airplane required maintenance - and Air Greenland simply doesn't have a large fleet of aircraft.

It was easy to complain immediately after hearing this news - after all, our flights were all booked as one-way.  Missing our flight from Reykjavik on Sunday afternoon would have likely meant we would have to book another flight to Copenhagen.  Looking back, Air Greenland was quite good to us - putting us up for a night in the best hotel in Nuuk and paying for both lunch and dinner at the hotel restaurants.  In the afternoon, we received a call to inform us that our flight would depart to Reykjavik the following morning - and if on time, we would easily make our connection to Copenhagen.  The extra day allowed us to shoot more video in Nuuk (we made our connecting flight).  Reykjavik will have to happen some other time.

2013.07.26 - Godthabsfjord

On Friday, July 26th, after conducting 10 interviews in Nuuk - we decided to take the day to see a bit of the natural environment.  At 8:00am we boarded a small boat along with 4 Danes to travel up the fjord to the mouth of the glacier.  There is nothing quite like hearing the first crunch of an iceberg against the hull of a small boat - in water this cold, one has between 5-10 minutes on the clock... Before too long, the anxiety had subsided and we had full faith in our Greenlandic guides.  Upon arriving at the mouth of the glacier (and with limited visibility) the guide stopped the boat and we sat in a field of icebergs, a surreal experience.  On our way back to Nuuk, we stopped by an old settlement.

Nuuk in Motion: Unedited Video Clips

2013.07.25 - Relying on our Network

To this point, we had arranged all of our interviews prior to departing on our travels.  We knew building a strong network of interested parties would be critical to our success in speaking other stakeholders.  Our last day of interviews in Nuuk was constructed of stakeholders built entirely upon the interest we had generated in our prior conversations... and it was by far our busiest day (four interviews and a tour of the Greenlandic Parliament).

On Thursday - July 27th - we spoke with Palle Christiansen, Frans Berthelsen, Peter Barfoed, Bilo Stigsen and Niels Bennetzen.  Palle Christiansen is a member of the Greenlandic Parliament and former Minister of Education, Science, and Nordic Cooperation.  In our conversation, Palle described the need for higher standards of education and the tensions between development and preservation in Greenland.

Frans Berthelsen is a local architect and photographer as well as an outspoken critic of the current development patterns of housing in Greenland.  Frans is a native Greenlander and has spent most of his life working directly within the specific social, cultural, and environmental milieu of Greenland.

Peter Barfoed is a principle at Tegnestuen Nuuk, which participated in the 2012 Venice Biennale in collaboration with Bjarke Ingels Group.  Peter's work has long speculated on the infrastructural imperatives necessary for Greenland to deploy in order to sponsor and promote an economy of resource extraction and environmental tourism.

Bilo Stigsen and Niels Bennetzen work together at Kommuneqarfik Semmersooq - the planning department responsible for Urban and Housing development in the municipality of Sermmersooq.  Niels and Bilo also worked to coordinate the efforts of the local and foreign design teams for the 2012 Venice Biennale.

2013.07.24 - Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum and the Ministry of Industry and Minerals

On Wednesday - July 24th - we spoke with Jorgen Hammeken-Holm at the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum and Martin Christensen with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals.  The Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP) was established in 1998 in collaboration with the Danish government.  Since 2009, the BMP has been taken under Home-Rule and operates independently from it's Danish counterpart.  The BMP is responsible for the review and approval of all mineral licensing in Greenland and acts to ensure the regulatory, legal, and political framework for mineral exploitation is reliable and environmentally sound.

The efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals is focused on securing employment for native Greenlanders, exploring new avenues for a stable economy, creating and enforcing regulations for new business, and establishing royalties and taxes from the mining corporations.  The Home-Rule Government recognize that if Greenland is to gain further autonomy from the Kingdom of Denmark (and eliminate the government subsidies from Denmark), they must expand and diversify their economy.  An economy constructed around the extraction and refinement of mineral resources would afford Greenland this opportunity.  The question then becomes, how might Greenland develop an expanded economy while simultaneously preserving its culture and way of life?

2013.07.23 - Employers Association of Greenland and the Institute of Natural Resources

Last Tuesday, we spoke with Ellen Arnskjold at the Employers Association of Greenland (Sulisitsisut) and Ole Geertz-Hansen with the Institute of Natural Resources (Pinngoretitaleriffik).  The Employers Association, has been representing business interest in Greenland since 1966.  Presently, around 500 companies and 6,0000 employees are listed among it's members.  Recently, the Employer's Association has been in collaboration with the Danish Industry Foundation, Confederation of Danish Industry, and the Technical University of Denmark to strengthen and support both Danish and Greenlandic companies in partnership to bid for mining projects in Greenland.

The Institute of Natural Resources is responsible for providing a scientific basis for the assessment of sustainable use of resources in and around Greenland.  The aim of these reports is to secure the environmental and ecological stability of Greenland, the reports also advise the Greenlandic government on policy strategy.  The Institute of Natural Resources is divided into three areas of specialization: Fish and Shellfish, Birds and Mammals, and the Climate Research Center.  All three divisions work to foresee changes in ecological equilibria and the affect of human activity/development on the environment.

2013.07.22 / Inuit Circumpolar Council and Katuaq

On Monday - July 22nd - we began our week of interviews by speaking in the morning with Aqqaluk Lynge and in the afternoon with Julia Pars.  Aqqaluk is a native Greenlander and is the current Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), the ICC is a multi-national non-governmental organization established in 1977.  The ICC represents over 160,000 Inuit people in Greenland, Canada, the United States, and Russia and was granted consultive status to the United Nations in 1983.

Julia is also a native Greenlander and is the acting director of Katuaq, a facility that servers as the Cultural Center of Greenland.  Katuaq was opened in 1997 and hosts conferences, concerts, exhibits, and serves as a cinema - it also acts as an informal community center.  Following the 2012 Venice Biennale, the exhibit Possible Greenland was brought to Katuaq to share with the local community - and in February of this year Katuaq hosted a conference titled Future Greenland.

In the weeks following our travel (as we're transcribing all of the interviews) we'll also post more in-depth profiles of everyone - stay tuned.

2013.07.21 - Nuuk / Store Malene (Ukkusissaq)

On our first full day in Nuuk and with no one to interview on a Sunday, we decided to hike up the 772m Store Malene.  We went with our new friends Jonas and Tany, as well as their friends Charles and Ursula.  The weather was fantastic and the view was "amazing".  We prepared a small dinner and had it at the top of the mountain.  All in all it was a 5 hour round trip - time well spent.

2013.07.20 - Reykjavik / Nuuk

After months of research and planning, our trip is finally underway.  Flying out of Boston, we had an 8 hour layover in Reykjavik before boarding our flight to Nuuk.  We hadn't made any firm plans for this layover, so we decided to rent a car and drive around viewing the landscape and go to the Blue Lagoon thermal spa.  On our way we discovered the divide between the North American and European continents (growing at a rate of 2cm per year).  We enjoyed the spa for a while and then made our way back to the airport for our flight to Greenland.

NORD Architects / Copenhagen

Our travel plans are shaping up and we're excited to say that we'll also be going to Copenhagen as part of our project.  During last year's Venice Biennale the Danish Pavilion presented critical and thorough research and speculation on the social, ecological, political, and design challenges presently facing Greenland.  As part of our project, we've been in touch with Johannes Pederson - a partner at NORD Architects in Copenhagen (http://www.nordarchitects.dk/featured/possible-greenland/).  Their participation in the Biennale was that of co-curator, and explored the role of the architect as a catalyst for engaging diverse stakeholders in critical conversations.  We believe their experience with the Biennale will offer tremendous insight into our project and can't wait to speak with them!

Another quick update on our Kickstarter campaign.  So far we've received an incredible 85% of our funding!  We have just under a month to procure the remaining 15% of our funding goal.  As we've said before, we believe every donation is critical - and no matter the amount you're able to pledge, you'll be credited for your support in the film.  We hope you'll consider supporting our project, and if you've been intending to pledge your support - now would be a perfect time!  

Help us get the remaining 15% of our minimum funding and make this project happen!  Here's a link to our Kickstarter campaign:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1086964762/landscapes-of-disappearance

Remember to share the project with your friends and family - and thanks for your support!

Project Update / Kickstarter Update

This week we've been in touch with many of the stakeholders in Greenland - as well as key individuals in both Reykjavik and Copenhagen.  The response has been great and we're looking forward to sitting down with these stakeholders and exposing the opportunities available for architects, landscape architects and other allied design professionals to become effective protagonists in the strategy for Greenland.

We've also recently applied for another grant - the Deborah J. Norden Fund through the Architecture League of New York.  We're holding our breath and crossing our fingers on this - it would be a tremendous help in covering our travel and equipment costs.  Speaking of costs...

After one week of our kickstarter campaign going live - we've seen remarkable support from our friends and family, but we still have work to do in order to reach our fundraising goal.  Remember, if we don't reach our minimum fund raising goal - we get nothing.  Our fundraising goal was set as the minimum additional funding needed to cover our airfare expenses.  Any money we raise above that minimum will help us cover the costs of equipment and post-production.  If you haven't had a chance to pledge your support - please take a few minutes to help fund this project.  We believe every donation is critical and no matter your level of support you'll be credited in the film and receive some unique rewards.  Also, help spread the word about our project with your friends and family through social media.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1086964762/landscapes-of-disappearance

Rax

Inspiring work by Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson documenting the people and landscape of Greenland.

Check out more of his work at:
http://www.rax.is/Gallery/Greenland/index.html

Kickstarter is LIVE!

After a ton of work - Will and I are excited to take our Kickstarter campaign LIVE this morning.  What's more exciting is that before we could even post this and get our friends and family involved - we received our first pledge from someone we don't even know! Amazing!

So, now that you know - get involved, donate and spread the word about our project to your friends and family!

Here's a link to our kickstarter site, have a look and tell us what you think.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1086964762/landscapes-of-disappearance

Be sure to watch the video, read more info about the project, how kickstarter works, and the rewards we're offering for each donation.

Project Development / Meeting with our Advisors

Soon after learning that we would be receiving funding from the Penny White Project Fund - a few things became very clear.  One, we had a ton of work in front of us to develop this project beyond a concept and into real terms.  We began identifying various stakeholders in Greenland - politicians, mining corporations, scientists, community activists - and we started developing questions specific to each agency.  Two, we needed to raise more funds to actually make this happen.  The Penny White award is our spring board - but it will only cover the costs of flights.  So we've been setting up a kickstarter page (which will be going live soon - exciting).  Finally, we need to talk with our project advisors... immediately!

By the way, our advisors are pretty incredible.  Professor Paul Nakazawa is our internal advisor from the Graduate School of Design, and we have 2 external advisors from the Kennedy School of Government on board as well - Professor Henry Lee and Professor David Keith.  

(Take a moment to look them up - pretty remarkable individuals).

So I jumped on a flight back to Boston and Will and I had a frantic 3 days of work on the project.  We met with our advisors, got really great feedback, suggestions, and criticism - and - shot an introductory video for our kickstarter page (more on that later).  Take a look at a few meeting photos.

Meeting with Prof. Paul Nakazawa and Prof. David Keith

Meeting with Prof. Henry Lee

Penny White Project Fund

After being selected as a finalist for the award in early February, and a final submission in mid-February - Will and I found out we had been selected as Penny White Project Fund award winners!  The fund was established in memory of a Landscape Architecture student who passed away during her study at the GSD and is intended to offer students the opportunity to explore their academic interests outside the institution.  We're honored to receive the award and excited about the potential of our project.  Here's a look at the poster that's been pinned-up around the school - if you can spot the longest project title (centrally located near the top) that's us...

Design Thinking / Policy Making / Greenland

In mid-January Will and I started a conversation about finding a new agency for architects (and other allied design professionals) - a space that most people wouldn't expect to find people like us.  It's no secret that designers simply approach problem solving very differently - thank you Tim Brown.  Our aim was to engage a process that we felt needed a designers particular style of strategic thinking and issues based problem solving.

Simultaneously, we had been considering pursuing a travelling grant through the Department of Landscape Architecture at the GSD - The Penny White Project Fund.  The results of our ongoing conversation and a shared interest in the current transformation of Greenland became the focus of our research proposal.  We titled the project - Landscapes of Disappearance.  Take a look at our websites to get more info.

www.work-arch.com
www.wlambeth.com