California Academy Of Sciences

Brent Bucknum of Hyphae Design: a profile.

We don’t have time to do environmental at that’s not functional.

– Brent Bucknum



In working on a Climate Clock for the San Jose Initiative, designer Brent Bucknam would often get into theoretical debates about the nature of art. His project partner, Brian Howe of greenmeme, would quote Picasso: Art is the lie that reveals the truth. Brent’s response was the quote above.

It’s one of the central questions of the environmental art movement, and one that is integral to Brent’s work with Hyphae Design Laboratory, a company he founded.

How can art save the world?

Artists on greenmuseum.org and elsewhere  are blurring cultural boundaries between art and science, science and activism, volunteerism and performance. Traditional forms hold fast, but functionality remains central to Hyphae’s work. Function: defined by this designer as “interpreting and conveying ecological information or serving otherwise as an ecological tool or system.” Hyphae is currently working on a project in West Oakland, a plan to line the 580 highway on either side with towering stands of bamboo, natural air and particulate filters. On a greenmuseum.org-sponsored panel at the recent Earth Matters on Stage Symposium, he presented a number of other exciting projects, from green roofs to living walls.

The 28-year old designer went to a farming high school. He worked for bioremediation and green roof companies before joining Rana Creek, with which he worked on the California Academy of Sciences’ living roof. He became that company’s first Director of Design before moving on to create Hyphae.  He sees his new company as a catchall, providing services from ecological design and research to consulting for artists interested in environmental projects.

That last aspect is the result of Bucknum’s own experiences making environmental art: he’d like to see artwork that ’s better informed by ecology, not, as he puts it, the “horti-torture” that creates living systems barely able to survive the duration of an exhibition. He’d like the art to be the change it would like to see in the world: smart, sustainable, and thriving.

Go to the Green Museum

Actually, It is Easy Being Green: Apollo Design Technology

From Live Design Online

We asked readers what they’re doing to be green, whether in design, manufacturing, or just life in general.

Here’s what Monty McWilliams at Apollo Design Technology had to say:

“Apollo has obviously gone green in a big way by switching our gobo production process from chemical etching to clean laser technology. Please click this link to view our video on our going green. We are also transitioning into recycled or recyclable packaging for all our gobo products.” 

And Blair Parkin, managing director at Visual Acuity, notes:

“As lead technology consultant on the planetarium, visualization studio, and other technology heavy areas of the new California Academy of Sciences, the world’s largest green building, we have developed new design approaches. These in turn have driven equipment manufacturers to develop their technology with a much greater focus on sustainability.

At the Academy the entire building was designed to LEED platinum status which was a major innovation. The client team are passionate about climate change and biodiversity given the nature of their institution. As such the design team elected to take the sustainable design criteria further than would have been needed to achieve LEED status. The application of LEED principles beyond scoring the necessary points led to a major shift in traditional technology design practice. This, in turn, led to new design processes being evaluated and a number of new technologies applied in a public space that had not been used before. One example would be the wide use of special LED lights developed by Philips. Another example would be the creation by Visual Acuity of a heat and power ‘budget’ for the AV/media/technology systems which was used for planning and vendor selection. In short, it would be fair to state that this project has entirely changed the way Visual Acuity and all the other members of the design team plan, design and build projects.”

via Actually, It is Easy Being Green: Apollo Design Technology.