July 2008

On the Radio

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
I had two chances this month to chat with our good friend Rob Williams on the radio. First for Yestermorrow (http://www.vtcommons.org/content/free-vermont-radio-designing-independent-vermont-vernacular-july-15-2008) and later in the month for the Carbon Shredders (http://www.vtcommons.org/content/free-vermont-radio-carbon-shredding-energy-...

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Help us Celebrate the Completion of the 2008 Natural Building Intensive!

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
Yestermorrow and the Center for Whole Communities invite you to celebrate the Natural Building Intensive project at the Knoll Farm in Fayston, VT on Friday, July 25th from 4-6pm.This year's Intensive project is a combination barn and workshop for the Farm, built as a demonstration of natural building systems emphasizing locally sourced...

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MOMA Show "Home Delivery"

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
A new show opened this week at the Museum of Modern Art in New York entitled "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling". This show, which runs through October 20th, features the Cellophane House, a project which Yestermorrow instructor Andy Schlatter has been involved with in the conceptual and design development of the project at...

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Pooling our Resources

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
Yestermorrow helped found the Carbon Shredders (http://www.changents.com/carbon-shredders), so we shudder a little each time we see a car or truck pull into our lot and only see the driver's seat occupied. It is not that we don't dearly love to see students and instructors come to our campus, but rather we hope that we take our current and...

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Accessible Architecture Brings People Together

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
On the 4th of July, Carlene and I visited with our friends Steven Ablondi and Cindy Burns who had just returned from South Africa where they are working to establish a permaculture settlement. They are doing some spectacular things with water management and also doing some experimental building. We were really impressed with the look they...

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A Place Called Yestermorrowville

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
One of the wonders of the internet is that we can design/build electronically that which we cannot have in real life: Yestermorrowville. This is a “place” where we all of us live the way we sustainably should, carry on our pattern of learning, and continue the very same community interactions you experienced during your visit or visits to...

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Natural Building Intensive Project Update

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
Our summer Natural Building Intensive is past the half-way mark in the completion of the barn project at the AbsolutGreen (http://bizcloud25.asoshared.com/~yestermo/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/images/blogspot) with a good overview and photosBen Griffin is working on a more detailed description of the various stages, as part of...

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We Rolled Over the Competition

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
As usual the interns did us proud during this year's Warren 4th of July Parade. With the "Back to the Future" theme, the interns came up with the general concept of Yestermorrow: Reinventing the Wheel. Of course there were a few insider jokes about it being a Ferris Wheel which I may live down in a few months, but all-in-all it was a...

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Former Intern Jessa Turner featured in the Kentucky Herald-Leader

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
One of Yestermorrow's former interns is making big waves down in Berea, Kentucky where she established HomeGrown HideAways, found online at http://www.homegrownhideaways.org/, a year ago to teach others eco-friendly construction techniques. Jessa Turner (a summer 2006 intern from Berea College) is featured on the front page of today's...

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Parallel Evolution?

By Kate Stephenson, Executive Director
In evolutionary biology there are two related but different concepts. One is parallel evolution where two fairly closely related species develop similar adaptations independent of one another. The other concept is convergent evolution where two unrelated species develop similar adaptations independently. Examples of convergent evolution...

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