Does design always have to enframe nature? What happens when you take the frame away?
How do non-humans (trees, birds, insects, fungi) communicate? What could communication design learn from this?
How is it that “our thinking minds have grown estranged from the intelligence of our sensing bodies” (David Abram 2010)? How might we refamiliarize ourselves with that intelligence?
How tall is the tree if there is no ruler? Does night erase space? Is the sky a ceiling?

Join us for an Inquiry in two parts.

Between ancient trees and on moss-covered surfaces, plaster walls and glass windows, we’ll set up camp. And in this forest, we’ll collaborate. In- and out-of-doors. Through and behind, above and below, with and without a trace. To be. Thoroughly. Wilder.

Forest and building, non-human and human, wilderness and civilization; these and other dualities will emerge as we shift between realms. 

Kitchen or fire pit, studio or bare ground—bewilderment, collaboration, and inquiry will continue. 

We invite you to breach the boundary between the familiar and the unfamiliar. Let’s lead ourselves out of our human-centered worlds and into the forest—and then back again. 

“If a straight line is the shortest distance between two fated and inevitable points, digressions will lengthen it; and if these digressions become so complex, so tangled and tortuous, so rapid as to hide their own tracks, who knows—perhaps death may not find us, perhaps time will lose its way, and perhaps we ourselves can remain concealed in our shifting hiding places.”
—Italo Calvino

Apply for our in-person gathering

Dates and location: June 12-18, 2022—in 2 parts:

  1. June 12-15 tent camping at the Bear Run Nature Preserve where we will take a 1.5 mile hike to our campsite. You’ll need to bring your camping gear including a tent and a pack. There are no bathrooms or running water at the campsite. We’ll be digging holes and purifying water from the stream. As with any outdoor adventure, preparedness is essential.
  2. June 15-18 staying at the High Meadow Residences within the Fallingwater campus where we will have access to familiar spaces like studios, kitchens, and bathrooms. The forest will still be there but we’ll reach it from the inside or our rooms.

Attendance

Suits 15 residents

Contribution toward residency costs, including housing, groceries and some drinks. Limited scholarships are available.

Proof of vaccination (including booster) is required.