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ISSUE #38

DESIGN & NATURE REIMAGINED

MARISA MORBY​

Hope you've had a good week! I'm finishing up a landscape design class and native plants identification class, so my days have been filled with lots of landscape drawing and plant walks.​
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design

I've had the opportunity to spend several months in Barcelona over the course of several years. The first time I visited, there were certain areas that were great walking streets, and the rest of the city was quite car heavy. Then I was there during the construction of these superblocks. I'm telling you, the WHOLE city felt like it was under construction. And now, they're finally done! I haven't been back yet, but wanted to share what they look like.
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These superblocks make pedestrian and bike traffic safer, encourage people to sit and enjoy themselves, and overall make Barcelona a quieter, more livable city. Excited to see these in person one day!

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nature

Some plants are considered keystone species because of how important they are to the foodweb. Learn more about why oak leaves are sturdier than other leaves and how they impact the ecosystem around them.

reimagine

What if 3D printing helped us reimagine how we build residential and public buildings? Check out this Texas home that's one of 100 3D printed homes in this new neighborhood outside of Austin. Lviv, Ukraine recently built a public school with a 3D printer. Since printing buildings is faster and less expensive then traditional methods, it's been a helpful strategy for them to rebuild after Russia's ongoing attacks. Now let's go one step further and imagine these buildings being used for housing the homeless, and using materials that are less carbon intensive, like this living concrete?

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