On Innovation and Collaboration

I recently sat down to read an essay by my friend and colleague, Ginny McGinn, co-director of the Center for Whole Communities. Her writing on leadership and how to create new pathways to collaboration (in the Winter 2010-11 Whole Thinking Journal) touched on something which really resonated with me in thinking about what makes Yestermorrow such a special place.

"Recently on the Canadian Broadcasting Company radio show Spark (an ongoing conver­sation about technology and culture), researcher and author Steven Johnson was talking about his new book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. He spoke about the concept, perhaps the myth, of the “eureka moment,” the instant when an individual is struck by an idea, a lightning bolt of brilliance that will change the world.

What Johnson’s research shows is that such moments are rare. More often what happens is that over time an individ­ual develops an idea in collaboration with one or more other people whom he or she has regular contact with and input from. Rarely does innovation happen in isolation. Just as plants and animals adapt to be better fitted to their environment as a result of what they come into contact with so, too, do human beings. Our best thinking happens when we bump up against other people and their ideas. Johnson’s research reveals that when we humans have relationships with individuals who have different skills and come from different fields, our capac­ity to innovate increases. Specifically he found that inventors typically had social connections to people with very different backgrounds. What fed their new thinking was listening and learning from people with different ideas."

For me, this is a huge part of what Yestermorrow is all about. Bringing people together to share their ideas, their experiences, and their visions for the future. The result is never something that can be predicted, but inevitably the “eureka” moments come when students are working together to help each other figure out a solution neither would have come to on their own. Yestermorrow is a place where people who want to make the world a better place and who are hungry to learn can bump elbows, chat over dinner, and spark innovations that transcend the subject matter of any one class or topic. Good food for thought (thanks Ginny!).

-Kate Stephenson

South Studio Transformation!

During a 3-day design and 4-day blitz build session Design/Build Interns under the supervision of Dave Warren completed the final phase of the south studio transformation. The south studio morphed from a difficult, limited working place to a design-school level, multi-purpose room. New convertible drafting table work benches, conceived to increase the functionality of the space, were designed by current D/B intern Andrea Kelchlin. Images of the full process can be found on Facebook.

The south studio before.

The desk/bench coming together.

Tada! 1-2-away, bench-desk-storage.

And after - the final magic. Thank you Dave and Interns for the gumption and extra hours involved in rejuvenating this space!

Carey Clouse and Josh Jackson Will Lead Inaugural Undergraduate Semester in Sustainable Design/Build

Yestermorrow Design/Build School and the Architecture+Design Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are pleased to announce that Carey Clouse and Josh Jackson will be leading the first Undergraduate Semester in Sustainable Design/Build program next fall.

Carey Clouse is an educator and practitioner with a body of work that addresses the intersection between sustainability, social justice, and design/build. After graduating from MIT with a graduate degree in architecture and urbanism, Carey joined the faculty at Tulane University, where she has taught architecture as an adjunct assistant professor for the past four years. In her time in New Orleans she also spent three years as a Rose Architectural Fellow, working closely with the city to establish green building guidelines, with local grassroots rebuilding groups to share resources and ideas, and with a non-profit housing developer to oversee the sustainable design and development of more than 1,500 units of affordable housing. She is partner and co-founder of CrookedWorks Architecture, a small design/build firm in New Orleans which addresses the tough issues of urban identity, food security, and environmental stewardship. In addition to her architectural background, Carey also taught as an outdoor instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) from 2001 until 2007.

Josh Jackson received his Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University in 1989 and promptly bicycled across the country to San Francisco where he pursued an interest in alternative energy and worked for Pacific Gas & Electric on energy conservation programs. A desire to bring head, hands, and heart together led Josh to the Heartwood School for the Homebuilding Crafts in Massachusetts where he fell in love with timberframing and ecological building during two summers as an apprentice. He has pursued these paths exploring a wide variety of natural materials, handmade paper, stained glass, and timbers of all shapes, sizes, and species. Josh co-founded the firm Humble Abode in the Berkshires, and is now a partner in TimberHomes LLC, a timberframing company based in Vershire, Vermont. Josh teaches timberframing workshops at Heartwood School, Yestermorrow, and Rocky Mountain Workshops and has been a core faculty member of Yestermorrow’s Natural Building Intensive program since 2007.

Yestermorrow’s Semester in Sustainable Design/Build will draw undergraduates and recent post-baccalaureates from diverse liberal arts colleges and architecture schools. Students will be exposed to design fundamentals, principles of sustainability, and a hands-on experience in design/build―designing and constructing a “tiny house” from start to finish. Under the guidance of Clouse and Jackson, they will explore what sustainability looks like in practice. The program is geared for students considering a career in the fields of sustainable design, architecture, planning, construction, engineering and landscape design, including liberal arts students in search of an immersive and unique “study away” opportunity, and students in professional architecture programs looking for hands-on design/build experience. The 16-week semester runs August 21-December 9, 2011 and offers 15 credits from the UMass-Amherst Architecture + Design program.

Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall 2011 class. For more information visit www.yestermorrow.org/semester-programs or contact José Galarza, Director of Semester Programs: jose@yestermorrow.org.

A few signs of spring...

A few small signs of spring around campus...
rhubarb emerging (so cool looking!)Seder plate at lunch

What College Students Are Saying About Yestermorrow

"When I design something, I always wonder how it can be built." -Theo

Theo can't remember a time when he wasn't helping in his dad's shop. He grew up tinkering with bicycles, old cars, and built a kayak when he was fourteen.

Now that Theo's studying architecture in college, he longs for more. "I want to explore all the social issues that impact design and gain the hard skills required for building."

Theo isn't alone. Ever since Yestermorrow announced its Semester Program in February, I've heard from college students from Louisiana, Ecuador, California, Washington, Texas, and across New England. One settled on a course of study "because I couldn't find a college teaching what I wanted to learn." Another, well into her architecture degree, has yet to pick up a hammer. A future engineer faces "limited options to study environmental sustainability and less chance to participate in actual practice."

Talented, committed, curious—these young adults are in an educational system that hasn't addressed their learning styles or their interests. Hasn't allowed them to test out what they learn. Until now they've had limited choices.

Yestermorrow is changing all that.

In August, 15 undergraduates will begin Yestermorrow's Semester in Sustainable Design/Build. Design studios, seminars, and training in basic carpentry while they design and then construct a tiny self-sufficient house. They'll earn credit from UMass Amherst.

We're establishing a second campus for undergraduates in the fall and graduate students in the spring. I'm asking you to contribute today so we can outfit a studio, seminar room, shop, dining room, kitchen, and dorm rooms. We don't have much time.



We have to be ready when Theo arrives here on August 21st. With your financial support, we can welcome and nourish the students' minds and bodies. Transform their future. Fuel their passion. You can give Theo an educational experience he couldn't find anywhere else.

He and his classmates already have the desire to build a better world, it's up to you to make sure they have the tools to do so. I invite you to be part of that journey.

Donate $300 before May 1, and I'll add your name to a Founder's Plaque. Contribute more than $150, you'll receive updates about the students' progress throughout the semester. If $150 is too much money at one time, consider making a recurring monthly donation.

I hope you will visit this fall and see what we've created together.

Sincerely,

Kate Stephenson
Executive Director

P.S. If you believe this is one of the coolest innovations since sliced bread (we do), share this appeal with friends on your Facebook page or tweet about it . If you can’t afford much, make a monthly donation. $15 a month will go a long way toward paying for a fast internet connection at the new campus. Or get a group of friends to pitch in $20. Be part of making the semester program a success.

P.S. If you'd prefer to send a check, write it to Yestermorrow, and send it to: Yestermorrow, 189 VT Route 100, Warren, VT 05674.

Find out more about the Semester Program.

Making Ladderback Chairs

Last week our Woodworking Intensive students were hard at work making green ladderback chairs, led by instructor Mark Krawczyk. Not only is Mark a skilled natural builder and permaculture teacher, he also crafts beautiful furniture, functional objects and traditional tools from green wood under his business RivenWoodCrafts up in Burlington, VT. This type of woodworking is also called green woodworking because the materials are generally shaped while still wet or ‘green’.

This class is a bit of a change of pace from the other sections of the Woodworking Intensive, which incorporate lots of power tools. Rather than using sawn lumber from a mill, this course begins with a fresh, raw log, splitting it into parts shaped by hand with a draw-knife and shaving horse (a brilliantly simple foot-operated vice more than four centuries old). Because wood that has been split retains the natural strength and integrity of its fibers, they create strong, lightweight chairs that are beautiful as well as comfortable.

Check out the video below for a taste of what students learn in Mark's Green Ladderback Chair course. He's still got space in his next course, which starts October 2, 2011 and runs for 5 days.

Yestermorrow Art CHALLENGE!

Introducing the

Yestermorrow
ART CHALLENGE!

In a place with so many creative minds, ever wonder why Yestermorrow’s walls are so bare?

We can fix this!

I hereby challenge our students, interns, staff, faculty and friends to help populate the walls of Yestermorrow with beautiful, fabulous, creative original artistic creations.

These can be donations to the school or on loan. We’ll write up a “gallery tag” to let people know who you are and what you do, and your connection to Yestermorrow.

No deadline, but the first submissions will get prime hanging spots. When we run out of space here, we’ll move on to art for our new YesterNorth semester program campus.

To submit a piece, email kate@yestermorrow.org or just come by and tell me you want to participate in the CHALLENGE!

Your art could be here:

Check it out!

Yestermorrow to be featured in an upcoming issue of the Valley Reporter, our local paper.

NO Talent Accentuated

In a reverse role, talented folks here at Yestermorrow decided to try their hands at things we're not so talented at. Wednesday night the main studio hosted a NO Talent Show! We had several mirror-shattering musical acts, ventriloquists who couldn't keep their mouths shut, acrobats who couldn't do handstands and a gut-wrenching rendition of Hamlet.

The best perhaps, was work-trader/student David's magical appearance act (in which his NO talent was displayed by not appearing). The night was a roaring success. If you missed this one, hopefully there are plans for another in the summer months!

Woodworking Intensive students Tim Hurst and Galen Macdonald took a time-out from tenons and dovetails to create this stylish birthday gift for fellow student and musician Evan Premo. Stellar work, gentlemen.

Yestermorrow Launches Semester Program in Sustainable Design/Build

Yestermorrow and UMass Amherst will offer a cutting-edge semester program this fall as an alternative to typical “study-abroad” options.

Starting in late August 2011, Yestermorrow’s Semester in Sustainable Design/Build will give 15 undergraduate students from diverse colleges and universities a chance to immerse themselves in the hands-on process of collaboratively designing and building an architecturally innovative, high-performance “green” structure.

Students will explore what sustainability really means and looks like, in practice, through an intensive semester-long experience. Throughout the term, students will wrestle with the complexities of structural design, the political economy of affordable housing, and net-zero energy building systems with hands-on experience in the design studio and on the building site.

Geared for students considering a career in the fields of sustainable design, architecture, planning, construction, engineering, and landscape design, and looking for hands-on design/build experience, Yestermorrow’s undergraduate semester program will offer an immersive study away opportunity in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

Unique in the world of architecture education, the Yestermorrow semester will offer admission to highly motivated and academically strong undergraduates, from any major at any accredited four-year institution of higher education. Yestermorrow has partnered with the Architecture + Design department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst to provide college credit for the semester program.

Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall 2011 class. For more information visit www.yestermorrow.org/semester-programs or contact José Galarza, Director of Semester Programs: jose@yestermorrow.org.

Natural Building in Costa Rica!

Yestermorrow, in collaboration with Rancho Mastatal Environmental Learning Center, is hosting a 16-day Natural Building workshop in the rainforests of Costa Rica, from March 16 - April 1. This course, ideal for students and professionals interested in an immersion into natural building techniques, will focus on participation in the construction of a community library for the small village of Mastatal.

Longtime Yestermorrow instructors Skip Dewhirst and Lizabeth Moniz will introduce students to the collaborative design process and offer training in natural building techniques (including bamboo construction, building with cob, wattle and daub, and timberframing) while placing emphasis on using natural materials to design in harmony with the environment.

In addition to the daily design and building schedule, students will partake in field trips to a recent residential project built by Rancho Mastatal as well as to local waterfalls and points of interest. Rancho Mastatal, founded by former Yestermorrow graduates Tim O'Hara and Robin Nunes, promotes holistic sustainable living through a variety of workshops and programs. A $2400 course fee covers tuition, food, and lodging for Natural Building in Costa Rica.

Yestermorrow In The World: Bob O'Hara

Since serving as an intern in 2008, Bob O'Hara has made the pilgrimage back to Yestermorrow twice, once as an attendee of the Re-Inventing Small Business class, and once in attendance of Yestermorrow’s 30th Anniversary celebration.

After his internship, Bob returned to his (newly) native New Orleans to become a solar technician. In 2009, he formed an employee-owned cooperative solar integration firm with 3 other technicians. Currently, the small group has collectively installed around 200 kW of photovoltaics and nearly 100 solar thermal systems.

Additionally, Bob became an EPA Certified Lead Renovator, whose first remediation project was his childhood home in Petersburg, Illinois. After long hours in a “space suit,” laying down poly, sanding, vacuuming, cleaning, and painting, the historic house finally began to shine.

When not on the roof or working on an MBA in Sustainable Business and Renewable Energy, Bob is renovating a small New Orleans creole cottage for his parents, utilizing the comprehensive skills which he honed at Yestermorrow.

The goal of the project is to (re)build a small, smart family home, emphasizing energy efficiency, historic preservation, recycled materials, and renewable energy. The project has recently begun, if anyone in the Yestermorrow community wants to help, hurry on down to New Orleans, this project has to be done by late April (JAZZFEST!!!)

Where are Yestermorrow Students From?

Ever wonder where Yestermorrow students come from? We found this great tool where we can automatically create a Google map showing where our alumni are from. So far we've only loaded students from April 2007-January 2011 in North America, but we hope to expand it in the future.

Check it out! You will have to zoom in a bit to see the detail, since they aggregate the points together.

'Tis The Season ...

A few interns with shovels leave their message on the Yestermorrow lawn. The 2011 intern era has officially begun! For biographies of our full staff, including 7 new members, visit http://www.yestermorrow.org/staff-interns/

Yestermorrow Hires José Galarza as Director of Semester Programs

Yestermorrow Design/Build School has hired José Galarza as the school’s first Director of Semester Programs. This new position was created to help launch Yestermorrow’s Sustainable Design/Build Semester Program for undergraduates in Fall 2011 and a graduate-level Integrative Design/Build Semester in Spring 2012.

José Galarza is an architectural designer, builder, and educator who brings to Yestermorrow experience that spans design, planning, project management, information technology, and construction. José enjoys using advanced computer modeling coupled with a rigor towards craft; and, when at all possible, tries to apply systems-based thinking at the intersections of regenerative design, fine art, and equal opportunity.

Before starting his own practice he helped to design an assortment of iconic buildings for two well known and highly acclaimed firms in Europe and the United States. Previously he apprenticed as a fine woodworker producing high end custom pieces and received a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas in Austin. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature with minor studies in Art and Philosophy. José was the 2010 Program Director for Yestermorrow’s Natural Building Intensive, where he lead a group of ten students to build a house in Middlesex, VT, enabling a young couple to become first time homeowners. As Yestermorrow’s Community Outreach Coordinator through the VHCB AmeriCorps program, he coordinated class building projects with valuable community clients, including the Vermont Foodbank’s Kingsbury Farm. Currently he runs an architectural design studio based out of central Vermont called José Galarza Building Workshop.

Starting in fall 2011, Yestermorrow's Sustainable Design/Build Semester will give 15 undergraduate students from diverse schools and backgrounds a chance to immerse themselves in the hands-on process of collaboratively designing and building an architecturally innovative, high performance "green" building for a deserving community client. Students from a range of disciplines will work closely with Yestermorrow's renowned faculty of practitioner-teachers and community partners, while engaging with a rigorous, practical and inspiring curriculum offering up to 16 credits.

Starting in Spring 2012, Yestermorrow’s Integrative Design/Build Semester is an intensive semester-plus program for graduate students from varying disciplines related to the study and making of the built environment (architecture, engineering, building science, urban planning, art, environmental science, business and economics), who want to go beyond conceptual designs and abstract exercises to immerse themselves in the integrative process of making a building. Through guided research, lectures, field visits, seminar-style discussions, studio work, and active hands-on construction and management, students will collaborate on the design and construction of a light-footprint, high-performance shelter for a community client. The heart of the program is participants’ team-based work to weigh and balance a range of values, priorities and metrics - such as aesthetics, environmental sensitivity, building energy performance, durability, life-cycle materials analysis, cost, and social and natural ecology.

Yestermorrow Design/Build School is currently recruiting for the new positions of Lead Faculty and Lead Build Instructor for the Sustainable Design/Build Semester Program in Fall 2011. For more information, please visit http://www.yestermorrow.org/job-opportunities/. Anyone interested in learning more about these academic programs can contact José at jose@yestermorrow.org or 802-496-5545.