The Architecture of Healing with Michael Green + Natalie Telewiak

Michael Green and Natalie Telewiak love wood. These
Vancouver-based architects champion the idea that Earth can, and
should, grow our buildings--or grow the materials we use to build
them.


They are the principals of Michael Green Architecture, or MGA,
and have made it their mission to tackle world housing and
climate change by harnessing the power of timber, which they call
“the most technologically advanced material we can build with,”
to sequester carbon, to accelerate construction and reduce local
disruption, and to create spaces that foster more holistic
well-being in our built environments.


In this episode, Michael and Natalie dive deep into the ethos
behind their design and material choices in some of their
standout projects, like the Ronald McDonald House of British
Columbia and Yukon, with reSITE founder, Martin Barry. They weigh
the advantages and limitations of mass timber construction and
dissect the complex nuances faced when striving for true
sustainability. 


One could argue, what is sustainability without community?
Without affordability? Without connection? As pillars of MGA’s
practice, it is the combination of these factors that render
their work both remarkable and mindful. Their projects are rooted
in the local ecosystem and designed for inhabitants to build
connections to nature and to each other. 


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Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the
ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable.
reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and
ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the
intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and
economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative
leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making
cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile,
and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space,
architecture, and sustainable development in cities.


Learn more at www.reSITE.org


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This podcast was directed by Elizabeth Mills and produced by
Alexandra Siebenthal, with support from Martin Barry, and Radka
Ondrackova as well as the support of the Czech Ministry of
Culture and Nano Energies, and edited by LittleBig Studio.