Happy Halloween + Good bye to October & the Vancouver living wall

Out with the old, in with the new.

-The Vancouver Aquarium is renovating, as such they have demolished their green wall. A 2008 green wall of excellence, the $50,000 installation was one of North America's first green walls of significance.

-There’s a new green wall product on the market, looks like they have done some demos around the US and elsewhere under the radar, which bodes well for customers as the kinks should be worked out already. Everyone, say hello to EcoWalls.

-We will end with some October themed + Halloween music. Enjoy!!!

Vince Guaraldi - Great Pumpkin Waltz
Broken Bells - October
James Taylor - October road
Wes Montgomery + Jimmy Smith - Death March

A $35 million dollar green roof for Chicago?

It never fails, I blog that things are quiet...and then tons of stuff hits the web.

-A very, very, VERY big green roof is being planned in Chicago. As the article explains, the northeast section of Grant Park is built on top of a parking garage.

One question, if you're spending $35 million dollars to re-do it, how much more would it cost to save the gigantic trees? Hmm...that gives me an idea...

-Well, none of my picks for North America's top public places made Planetizen's list. But then again, I didn't really rally support for my choices. But it looks like plenty of folks did rally behind their favorite places!!!

-On Vancouver Island urban farming seems to be a huge factor in local politics, so much so some think it could be an election issue next year if a by-law allowing the commercial sale of produce from one's land is overturned.

-The latest edition of Gastronomica explores the interest and rise in urban farming. This gives us all an opportunity to stop by our local bookstores, as the issue is not available online.

-In Cleveland, the first Unitarian Church (off Shaker Blvd, if you're in the area) opened a 5,400 square foot permaculture garden last week. That's an eighth of an acre...that's pretty darn big. In theory, you could raise about 4.5 tons of produce or enough to feed a person for a whole year! And if they can devote some space to going vertical as planned??? Who knows! Kudos to them!

Urban agriculture taking hold + California adopts cap and trade

The Greater Kansas City Food Policy Coalition has partnered with local residents and non-profits to lobby the city council for a new ordinance that allows for on-site sales by home gardens and community gardens.

-The Feeding Asia in the 21st century conference seems to have inspired a lot of people. I am sure others have seen articles popping up from around the region, officials in the Philippines, in particular,
seem to really have embraced the idea of boosting urban agriculture investment and education.

-With so many gigantic news stories this week, California's adoption of cap and trade regulations slipped through the proverbial cracks. Will we look back and say this was big news?

New York pledges $187 million dollars for green infrastructure

Things seem to be a little quiet this week on the living architecture front. And the most interesting bits are a touch depressing, but as always we'll end on a happy note.

-The Canadian Environmental Network, "one of Canada’s oldest, largest, and most well-respected democratic institutions serving the environmental concerns of all Canadians" will not
receive core funding in 2012. It's definitely a blow to smaller environmental organizations across Canada.

-A judge who believe humans cannot produce and consume foods of their choice has joined a Monsanto Law Firm. I seriously can't make up stuff this amazing, folks.

-Lastly, and happily, multiple levels of government in New York have agreed to mitigate sewer overflow via $187 million dollars in green infrastructure. My prediction? New York is green roof capital of North America by 2017! Of course, Chicago has a head start and Rahm Emanuel wants to keep it that way, but we will see!

Controversy, controversy and more local food controversy

Not sure if the food sovereignty movement has taken a more political turn and if this article is a harbinger of things to come or if this is an isolated article, but check out how local food and politics mix in this article about a small, Maine town. From the top, an objective observer might wonder what "EPA overreach" has to do with local food. The author never says, exactly, but we are just supposed to take it for granted.

-The new trade association USFRA (which includes Dupont and Monsanto) has been formed to host some "food dialogues" in DC and to battle the "misconceptions" of movies like Food Inc. and the "Pollan-ization" of the US.

-Moving on, how much did it hurt me to read this article in the NY Times about people being forced to choose less environmentally friendly products because of the bad economy?

-Enough with the bad, on to the good! Here are a couple of new permaculture websites (new to me, at least) in Norwegian and French.

-Year 15 (can you believe it???) of Barking Frog Permaculture's online certificate course kicks off in January. Taught by Dan and Cynthia Hemenway and Robert Waldrop, get in early! And there are scholarships available for those in need.

"Insert green roof here"

From the mind of artist Shatia Jackson, comes the "insert____here" tag. To make your own tag, head to sponsor 350.org and encourage others to take some community action.

-Those in Britain could probably use a few of these signs. Even better than the headline is how the Guardian calls out the government from the very top with the line "...the green infrastructure partnership has no financial backing but has cross-government support and backing of influential groups." Question, if you are going to support green roofs but not provide backing, why just make it a 2 year push? Why not an infinite one as there is no money involved??? On the bright side, it is good for green roofs to have support. But realistically, money speaks louder than words. Best line of the article? The environment minister proclaiming that green roofs really have lots of benefits and are not "airy fairy". Aye!

-For those interested in fermented foods, Sandor is your man. Not only is he constantly criss-crossing the US on speaking engagements, but he also has a gift for cheeky ways to make fermentation cool, with phrases like "Sandorkraut", "fermentation fetishist" and "fermentation revivalist".

-Website of the week goes to Fruitipedia. Impress your friends with your knowledge of, say, durian or one of the other 424 fruits covered.

-And lastly, Canada's most dangerous city (according to Maclean's in 2010...and I would have never have guessed!) sees some promise in urban gardening.

More on refugees and urban agriculture

We know it's more than a trend when the NY Times reports on it. But as readers of Living Architecture Daily, you are always ahead of the curve!

"With so many native Clevelanders struggling, why help foreigners" with urban agriculture?

The APA recently listed their top 10 public spaces in the US . Let's see how many from this list make it on to the top 100 public spaces in the U.S. and Canada list.

-A cool feature from Cleveland as a local farmer talks about working on the Refugee Empowerment Agricultural Program. Look for his deft answer of the question "With so many native Clevelanders struggling, why help foreigners?"

-Miami's compost mobile recently got a grant to help support it's operations. Why didn't I think of that?

-In the past year we have seen a bunch of articles where residents have had to take on their local governments to grow what they want, be it food or indigenous plants. A company in Houston is bucking the trend by planting indigenous grasses and trees. Hopefully this can become a trend on new urban properties as well.

Urban agriculture jobs, move fast! + GreenBuild lands in Toronto

A couple of jobs have been posted recently. The University of Alberta is seeking a chair in food security and sovereignty. This part sounds especially tasty "The Chair will be given considerable latitude to propose and develop a cohesive program of social science research that brings critical perspectives to issues of food safety and sovereignty!"
For those who want to get their hands dirtier, Isles, Inc. in Trenton, New Jersey wants an Urban Agriculture manager . Looks just as daunting!

-Surely everyone knows by now that Greenbuild is in Toronto this week, lots of cool stuff going on, especially green roof related. Greenbuild's presence dovetails nicely with the news that Toronto's green roof bylaw has created 125 full-time jobs and 1.2 million square feet of green space.

-500 students at the University of Massachusetts'- Amherst took a quarter-acre and turned it into a permaculture demonstration garden.

-Every once in a while it's good to check in with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to see what is happening with their selected key program(me)s, including investing in agriculture and the initiative (to lower, I presume) soaring food prices. Also not to miss is the explanation of why more attention is needed to maximize benefits of urban forests.

Truly living architecture - vine bridge with a 5 decade lifespan

-In the Philippines something called the Agropolis Project has been formed to provide a multitude of urban agriculture themed programs including teaching out-of-school youth to become farm entrepreneurs and launching a Diploma in Agriculture Entrepreneurship.

-In Montreal there is a final late push to get more signatures on an urban agriculture petition.

-Last bit of information for today focuses on true living architecture, this "installation" is meant to last at least 50 years.