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