2024 Earth Day


April 20, 2024

Free Workshops
10am–3pm
Colonels Row


Fellow Talk
5pm–6pm
@The Block House


Open to the Public
Reception Follows

The IPA is partnering with Governors Island to celebrate Earth Day with free edu­ca­tion­al activ­i­ties and work­shops for all ages, guid­ed nature walking tours, and vol­un­teer stew­ard­ship projects. The IPA will host workshops in Colonels Row on Sat­ur­day, April 20th from 10:30am to 3pm. Join us at the Block House at 5pm for a Fellow Talk with Kaja Kühl, Principal of youarethecity and IPA 2014 Fellow, for Buildings As Carbon Sinks.

In this talk, Kühl will present an alternative approach in which buildings can act as carbon sinks, storing thousands of tons of CO2 within their walls as emissions from buildings are reaching an all-time high. Based on recent research and built projects using hemp lime, she will discuss the potential of bio-based materials to radically rethink construction methods and materials towards regenerative and circular building practices.

All events are free and open to the public. No advance registration is required. A reception will follow the Fellow Talk. ︎︎︎ Plan Your Visit

Getting here:


Doors open for the Fellow Talk at 4:30pm. The last public ferry TO Governors Island from the Battery Maritime Terminal at 10 South Street will be at 4:15pm. The last ferry from Brooklyn is around 5pm. You can see the full schedule from Manhattan here, and the schedule from Brooklyn here. Info about getting to the Block House is here.
Note that ferries FROM Governors Island back to Manhattan run every 30 minutes until 10pm. There are no direct ferries back to Brooklyn in the evenings.

Schedule:


Time: 10am–10:30am
Check-In for volunteering
Meeting Location: Colonels Row
Project signups are on a first come, first served basis. ︎︎︎ More Info

Time: 10:30am–12:30pm
Finding Nature Focus Group, volunteering opportunity
Meeting Location: Colonels Row

Volunteers will help an IPA Fellow design and test their upcoming interactive children's book through a hand-on guided scavenger hunt. Participants will interact, locate, give thanks, collect and reflect on the natural landscape of Governors Island.

Time: 1pm–3pm
Material PLAY, workshop
Meeting Location: Colonels Row
Participants will learn to design like an architect by creating their own bio-materials and play models with found natural elements.

Time: 5pm–6pm
Buildings As Carbon Sinks, Fellow Talk
Meeting Location: Block House (9 Nolan Park)
Kaja Kühl, Principal of youarethecity and IPA 2014 Fellow, will present recent research and built projects using hemp lime, discussing the potential of bio-based materials to radically rethink construction methods and materials towards regenerative and circular building practices.




Kaja Kühl is an urban designer and the principal of youarethecity, a research and design practice based in Brooklyn NY. She has extensive architecture, urban design and planning experience from large-scale urban systems and policies to civic engagement and circular material practices. Her design work and writing have appeared in Dezeen, Oculus, Landscape Architect Magazine, Volume, AD, the Venice Architecture Biennale, Center for Architecture and Urban Omnibus.

Kaja is a passionate educator and teaches seminars and design studios at Columbia University and the City College of New York in addition to frequent workshops in non-institutional settings.

Her work and teaching focuses on civic engagement and design for a regenerative, low-carbon built environment.

Kaja received a Diploma in Architecture from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany and a M.S. in Urban Planning from Columbia University. She was a 2014 Fellow with the Institute for Public Architecture.

Related




2024 Open [Block] House Series
︎︎︎ Event


Peterson Rich Office: NYCHA
︎︎︎ Event




Institute for Public Architecture

45 E 20th Street Suite 500
New York, NY 10003

9 Nolan Park
Governors Island, NY