The idea of enough is very interesting to me. The idea that the planet doesn’t have enough for us on our current trajectory is at the heart of that. The question of whether the planet has enough for everyone on the planet, if we change the way we do things is an interesting way. Can we sustain seven, eight, nine billion people on the planet if everyone’s idea of enough was balanced with that equation? I don’t know, but I think it’s possible. I think that if we’ve shown nothing else as a species, as humans, it’s adaptability and resiliency and when forced to, we can do surprisingly monumental things and changes when the threat becomes real to us.

mark rosen, conscient podcast, may 2, 2021, ottawa

I’ve known Mark Rosen, as well as his brother Brian and sister Melanie all my life. I saw them being dutifully raised by their parents, Robert and Debbie, while I lived and worked in Banff, Alberta in the 1980s. I’ve seen Mark become an outstanding architect and national a leader in green building practices. 

One of the reasons I thought of Mark for a conscient conversation was when he mentioned that his generation was a ‘lost ‘or transitional generation because of deferred ecological debt. This idea struck me as tragic, but true. I was pleased when he accepted my invitation for conversation to explore a range of issues in and around architecture and design, including his understanding of ‘hope’ and the emergence of a new set of values from his generation. 

I enjoyed our conversation, including this excerpt: 

One of the things that I find very interesting in my design process as an architect is that if you were to show me two possible building sites, one that is a green field wide open, with nothing really influencing the site flat, easy to build, and then you show me a second site that is a steep rock face with an easement that you can’t build across. Inevitably, it seems to be that the site with more constraints results in a more interesting solution and the idea that constraints can actually be of benefit to the creative process is one that I think you can apply things that, on the surface, appear to be barriers instead of constraints. Capitalism, arguably, is one of those, if we say we can’t do it because it costs too much, we’re treating it as a barrier, as opposed to us saying the solution needs to be affordable, then it becomes a constraint and we can push against constraints and in doing so we can come up with creative solutions and so, one way forward, is to try and identify these things that we feel are preventing us from doing what we know we need to do and bringing them into our process as constraints, that influence where we go rather than prevent us from going where we need to go.

This conversation was recorded on May 2, 2021, on a long walk from Mark’s home in Ottawa along bike paths and into the Ottawa Arboretum.   

As I did with all previous episodes this season, I have integrated excerpts from e19 reality in this episode. 

I would like to thank Mark for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing his deep knowledge of green architecture, for being frank about the challenges we face and for his vision on how to move forward.  

For more information on Mark’s work, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/marktrosen/ and https://www.webuildahome.ca/

Links

• Talk about autonomous car by Tony Seba that was mentioned in the episode: YouTube
• Climate Capitalism book by Tom Rand: https://www.tomrand.net/

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Extrait (traduction)

L’idée d’en avoir assez est très intéressante pour moi. L’idée que la planète n’a pas assez pour nous sur notre trajectoire actuelle est au cœur de cette question. La question de savoir si la planète en a assez pour tous ses habitants, si nous changeons notre façon de faire les choses, est intéressante. Pourrions-nous faire vivre sept, huit ou neuf milliards de personnes sur la planète si l’idée que chacun se fait de ce qui suffit était équilibrée par cette équation ? Je ne sais pas, mais je pense que c’est possible. Je pense que si nous n’avons rien montré d’autre en tant qu’espèce, en tant qu’humains, c’est notre capacité d’adaptation et de résilience et quand nous y sommes forcés, nous pouvons faire des choses et des changements étonnamment monumentaux quand la menace devient réelle pour nous.

mark rosen, balado conscient, 2 mai 2021, ottawa

J’ai connu Mark Rosen, ainsi que son frère Brian et sa sÅ“ur Melanie toute ma vie. Je les ai vus être élevés consciencieusement par leurs parents, Robert et Debbie, alors que je vivais et travaillais à Banff, en Alberta, dans les années 1980. J’ai vu Mark devenir un architecte exceptionnel et, à l’échelle nationale, un chef de file des pratiques de construction écologique. 

L’une des raisons pour lesquelles j’ai pensé à Mark pour une conversation consciente, c’est lorsqu’il m’a dit que sa génération était une génération “perdue” ou en transition à cause de la dette écologique différée. Cette idée m’a paru tragique mais vraie. J’ai été ravi qu’il accepte mon invitation à discuter avec moi pour explorer toute une série de questions liées à l’architecture et au design, notamment sa conception de l’”espoir” et l’émergence d’un nouvel ensemble de valeurs au sein de sa génération. 

J’ai apprécié notre conversation, dont voici un autre extrait: 

L’une des choses que je trouve très intéressantes dans mon processus de conception en tant qu’architecte est que si vous me montrez deux sites de construction possibles, l’un est un champ vert grand ouvert, sans rien qui influence vraiment le site plat, facile à construire, et puis vous me montrez un deuxième site qui est une paroi rocheuse abrupte avec une servitude que vous ne pouvez pas construire à travers. Inévitablement, il semble que le site présentant le plus de contraintes aboutisse à une solution plus intéressante et l’idée que les contraintes peuvent en fait être bénéfiques au processus créatif est une idée que je pense que vous pouvez appliquer à des choses qui, à première vue, semblent être des obstacles plutôt que des contraintes. Le capitalisme, sans doute, est l’un de ceux-là, si nous disons que nous ne pouvons pas le faire parce que ça coûte trop cher, nous le traitons comme une barrière, au lieu de dire que la solution doit être abordable, alors il devient une contrainte et nous pouvons pousser contre les contraintes et ce faisant, nous pouvons trouver des solutions créatives et ainsi de suite, une façon d’aller de l’avant, c’est d’essayer d’identifier ces choses qui, selon nous, nous empêchent de faire ce que nous savons que nous devons faire et de les intégrer dans notre processus comme des contraintes, qui influencent ce que nous faisons plutôt que de nous empêcher d’aller là où nous devons aller.

Cette conversation a été enregistré le 2 mai 2021, lors d’une longue marche depuis la maison de Mark à Ottawa, le long de pistes cyclables et dans l’Arboretum d’Ottawa.   

Comme je l’ai fait pour tous les épisodes précédents de cette saison, j’ai intégré des extraits de e19 reality dans cet épisode. 

Je tiens à remercier Mark d’avoir pris le temps de me parler, d’avoir partagé ses connaissances approfondies de l’architecture verte, d’avoir été franc au sujet des défis auxquels nous sommes confrontés et d’avoir exprimé sa vision sur la façon d’aller de l’avant.  

Pour plus d’informations sur le travail de Mark, voir https://www.linkedin.com/in/marktrosen/  et https://www.webuildahome.ca/.

Liens

Discours sur la voiture autonome avec Tony Seba mentionné dans l’épisode : YouTube.

Le livre Climate Capitalism de Tom Rand : https://www.tomrand.net/  

The post e42 rosen appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

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About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

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