Green Building. Organic Architecture. Regenerative Design. These concepts have come to prominence recognizing the built environment as one of the largest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions, using toxic materials that can damage human health as well as pollute the environment. Following Nature's design process, our guest this week has developed an organic approach to design with an eye toward innovative buildings that embody ecological & social responsibility.

Organic architecture, coined by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright, unifies every element of the building—from windows to doors and even floors and furniture—with Nature. Biomimicry has become an important advance in this movement, harnessing functional design elements from—mimicking—Nature. Our guest, award-winning Architect Eric Corey Freed, 12-time Author, and Director of Sustainability for CannonDesign, has made this central to his work when designing buildings.

On this show we discuss Eric's approach to designing for the human systems, our senses, cycles, and signals, to engage people through using biology as a technology. We explore his process in how to build a non-toxic building that can also increase our connection to the natural world. If that sounds abstract, Eric Corey Freed is here to walk us through the work he has been doing for decades now.

Check out the extended interview with Eric: https://www.patreon.com/posts/eric-corey-freed-85029391?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Eric Corey Freed is an award-winning architect, author, and global speaker. As Principal and Director of Sustainability for CannonDesign [https://www.cannondesign.com/people/eric-corey-freed], he leads the healthcare, education, and commercial teams toward low-carbon, healthy, regenerative buildings for over 30 million square feet a year. For two decades, he was Founding Principal of organicARCHITECT [http://www.organicarchitect.com/about/ecf.html], a visionary design leader in biophilic and regenerative design. He serves on the board of Design Museum Everywhere, whose mission is to “bring the transformative power of design to all.” Eric is the author of 12 books, including "Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies” and "Circular Economy for Dummies." In 2012, he and his firm were named one of the 25 "Best Green Architecture Firms" in the US, and one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Green Architects." 

Jessica Aldridge, Co-Host and Producer of EcoJustice Radio, is an environmental educator, community organizer, and 15-year waste industry leader. She is a co-founder of SoCal 350, organizer for ReusableLA, and founded Adventures in Waste. She is a former professor of Recycling and Resource Management at Santa Monica College, and an award recipient of the international 2021 Women in Sustainability Leadership and the 2016 inaugural Waste360, 40 Under 40.

More Info/Resources: 

https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns/

Fossil fuel firms owe climate reparations of $209bn a year, says study
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/19/fossil-fuel-firms-owe-climate-reparations-of-209bn-a-year-says-study
Oil and gas health impacts cost $77 billion per year, study finds
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/10/oil-gas-health-impacts-study


Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ 
Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ 
Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio
PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url  

Executive Producer: Jack Eidt
Host and Producer: Jessica Aldridge 
Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats
Photo credit: Eric Corey Freed

Using Biology As Technology: Stimulating Human Response Through Architecture with Eric Corey Freed

On this show, we discuss how we can revolutionize architecture and landscape design by emulating Nature’s genius. Our guest, Ecological Architect Carl Welty [https://carlweltyarchitects.com/], paints a picture of ancient cities oriented to the sun’s movements, capturing its energy without machines. Modern city design often ignores the natural context, the flow of water, sensitive ecological habitats, in favor of geometric patterns – with problematic implications for the complex web of nature’s closed-loop systems. Carl Welty sees solutions to our climate and environmental messes through ecological design.

Employing simple passive solar design strategies like orienting buildings south, using overhangs and thermal mass, makes homes and offices 50% to 80% more efficient while costing the same. 


In fact, timeless techniques from ancient and Indigenous societies that mimic Nature’s design offer a resilience that is key to a truly sustainable, regenerative architecture. Thus we can build communities that generate – instead of consume – more resources (energy, water, and building materials), and at the same time restore native habitat.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/posts/carl-welty-on-89880683 

Carl Welty. Ecological Architect and Principal of Carl Welty Architects [https://carlweltyarchitects.com/]. has over 35 years of experience in the field of architecture and is based in Southern California. Carl's experience includes projects with difficult sites and complex structural requirements; a passive solar house that is Certified LEED Platinum; a Water Education campus that embodies important and timely water issues. He designs buildings that are twice as energy-efficient as typical green buildings by incorporating simple, time-tested, climate-appropriate design principles.


Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs.




Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ 
Podcast Blog: https://wilderutopia.com/ecojustice-radio/designing-architecture-and-landscapes-with-natures-ecological-wisdom/ 
Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio
PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url  

Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt
Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats
Episode 191

Designing Architecture and Landscapes with Nature’s Ecological Wisdom with Carl Welty

On this show, we discuss how we can revolutionize architecture and landscape design by emulating Nature’s genius. From an interview we did in 2023, our guest Ecological Architect Carl Welty [https://carlweltyarchitects.com/], paints a picture of ancient cities oriented to the sun’s movements, capturing its energy without machines. Modern city design often ignores the natural context, the flow of water, sensitive ecological habitats, in favor of geometric patterns – with problematic implications for the complex web of nature’s closed-loop systems. Carl Welty sees solutions to our climate and environmental messes through ecological design.

Employing simple passive solar design strategies like orienting buildings south, using overhangs and thermal mass, makes homes and offices 50% to 80% more efficient while costing the same.

For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio 

Carl Welty. Ecological Architect and Principal of Carl Welty Architects [https://carlweltyarchitects.com/]. has over 35 years of experience in the field of architecture and is based in Southern California. Carl's experience includes projects with difficult sites and complex structural requirements; a passive solar house that is Certified LEED Platinum; a Water Education campus that embodies important and timely water issues. He designs buildings that are twice as energy-efficient as typical green buildings by incorporating simple, time-tested, climate-appropriate design principles.


Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs.

Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ 
Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ 
Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio
PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url  
Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt
Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats
Episode 191

Carl Welty: Designing Architecture and Landscapes with Nature’s Ecological Wisdom

EcoJustice Radio presents environmental and climate stories from a social justice frame, featuring voices not necessarily heard on mainstream media.

Our purpose is to amplify community voices, broaden the reach of grassroots-based movements, and inspire action. We investigate solutions for social, environmental, and climate issues with an eye to advance human health, steward wild landscapes, and solve the climate crisis across the USA and the world.

Featured weekly on KPFK Los Angeles and KPFT Houston, and found on all major podcast apps. We are nationally syndicated through the Pacifica Network and PRX and heard on public radio stations across the US and downloaded in over 25 countries.

Co-hosts Jack Eidt, Carry Kim, and Jessica Aldridge present a broad range of perspectives: land defenders and water protectors; Indigenous leaders, front/fenceline community spokespeople; youth organizers; ecosystem and land stewards; regenerative farmers and permaculture specialists; spiritual and faith leaders; environmental health advocates and practitioners; documentary filmmakers; climate scientists; and political decision makers.

EcoJustice Radio [http://EcoJusticeRadio.org] is produced by SoCal350.org since 2017. 

Tune in live to KPFK Radio Thursdays from 4 to 5 PM (PT) at 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 93.7 FM North San Diego, 99.5 FM Ridgecrest-China Lake, or KPFK.org. 

We also are featured on KPFT Houston from 4 to 5 PM (CT) at 90.1 FM or KPFT.org and other public radio stations on the Pacifica Network.

New tracks tagged #organicarchitecture