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Time magazine credits Ban for redefining permanent and temporary shelter. "Refugee shelter has to be beautiful," Ban says. "Psychologically, refugees are damaged. They have to stay in nice places."

Ban's work also extends in other experimental directions. The ingenious Naked House recently won "Best House" in the World Architecture Awards program. A translucent skin made of insulating layers of plastic let in an even, soft light.

The interior of the simple rectangular box is completely open with private rooms movable on rollers within the space. Rooms can be rolled over to a plenum in the wall for air conditioning, pushed over to a window for a particular view, or removed to the patio to open the space up completely.

Think Locally

In another HOPES keynote address, the founder of the international Studio at Large, Sergio Palleroni, highlighted his work in impoverished countries. Palleroni got his start working for the United Nations in disaster relief. Finding that the generic buildings being produced for relief housing were culturally alien to the people they were intended to serve, Palleroni began working on what he calls a "culturally embedded" process.

He began by working with students and building schools in Mexico. The Studio at Large uses local materials and traditional building techniques to produce buildings that provide efficient community anchors and are sensitive to the building culture.

One challenge was to demonstrate to local people that materials manufactured in distant places often aren't the best choice. For example, when a project reintroduced adobe made from local clay in lieu of concrete block, a local man recalled: "My grandfather used adobe to build his house — and it was always cool inside on hot days.''

Palleroni's work will be featured in an upcoming PBS documentary on sustainable design (narrated by architecture aficionado Brad Pitt). A book on his work entitled Studio at Large was recently released.

Impermanence without a Trace

One conference panel discussed issues of permanence and impermanence surrounding the burgeoning Burning Man Festival in the pristine deserts of northern California. A curious mix of scholarly art historians and counterculture festival organizers, the panel examined the city of 10,000 that, like a Tibetan sand painting, suddenly appears and disappears without a trace every year.

The festival culminates with the burning of a 60-foot- (18-meter) high statue, an elaborate temple made of reused wood, and various other oddities. In this temporary culture, participants share goods, produce exuberant art, and generally make revelry.

The festival struggles with several environmental issues brought up at the conference: burning huge structures is not environmentally benign, and chemical toilets are problematic.

In one of the last events of the HOPES conference, keynote speaker Scott Self, a senior associate of Escherick Homsey Dodge and Davis, seemed an unlikely activist for the environment. Like Shigeru Ban, Self doesn't project the stereotypical image of an eco-designer. He is a corporate architect, working for powerful clients.

And yet Self represents an important trend in the emerging field of sustainable design — it has taken a central role in mainstream architectural practice.

Self forged through some daunting statistics that resonated strongly with his audience. The graph of carbon dioxide levels suddenly careening skyward and the potential disaster of the several-degree global temperature change that looms on the horizon.

When experts predicted that we would have to reduce the impact buildings have on the environment by a factor of ten, Self recalled his skepticism that such reductions would be possible. Then he threw himself into the challenge. Exploring every detail, he showed that it could be done by cutting waste, finding efficient, renewable materials, and creating thoughtful design.

Taking the pulse of eco-design in the western United States, a panel lead by Heather Flint Chatto, chair of the Northwest Alliance for Ecological Design Education, discussed a survey of western universities showing the growing demand for green design education among students. Participants in the survey generally felt that there was a lack of focus and knowledge among faculty members and that not enough time is dedicated to eco-design.

Student-Powered Conference

HOPES is unusual in that it is totally organized and run by students, which perhaps helps explain its pervasive festive energy. A walk through this year's conference area revealed activity everywhere, with hands-on workshops on modular green roofs and a sculpture made from soda cans in the form of a tree.

A student-generated project demonstrated water catchment and filtration for disaster relief. Its pivoting bamboo tubes clunked musically as they filled and discharged, fueled by a cooperative Oregon rainfall.

In a series of professional showcases, Peter Reppe of the firm Solarc Architects and Engineers, presented sustainable design strategies for the Klamath County Road Department Shops building. This is a rare example of a large institutional building that will approach zero-energy use. The integration of elements such as ground-source heat pumps, extensive photovoltaic and solar hot water panels, and stack ventilation all contribute to the building's impressive performance.

The exuberance of the HOPES conference reached a light-hearted climax with the Trashy Fashion Show. A workshop on making high fashion with lowly trash culminates with participants strutting down a runway wearing handmade garments.

The overall message of the conference was summed up in the conclusion of Scott Self's talk. He quoted Albert Einstein who said, "You can't solve a problem with the same mindset that created it." The HOPES conference, living up to its name, demonstrates the kind of energy and commitment it's going to take to change the mindset of a culture at odds with its own environment.

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Michael Cockram is an adjunct assistant professor of architecture at the University of Oregon. He is the director of the Italy Field School Program.

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Luminous insulated walls and floating private rooms on rollers characterize the Naked House by Shigeru Ban, a keynote speaker at the 2006 HOPES conference. Photo: Courtesy Shigeru Ban SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Shigeru Ban proposed a temporary paper temple for the World Trade Center site. Image: © Shigeru Ban, courtesy Max Protetch One of three proposals for rebuilding the World Trade Center submitted by the team "THINK": Shigeru Ban, Frederic Schwartz, Ken Smith, Rafael Vinoly, Arup, Buro Happold Engineers, Jorg Schlaich, William Moorish, David Rockwell, and Janet Marie Smith. Image: THINK The Monterey (California) Aquarium (1980), by Escherick Homsey Dodge and Davis. EHDD's Scott Self was a keynote speaker at the 2006 HOPES conference. Great Buildings Photo © Howard Davis The Klamath County (Oregon) Road Department Shops, by Solarc Architects and Engineers, use several passive and active strategies in attaining nearly zero-energy use. Image: Solarc Architecture/ Engineering HOPES conference participants mix sand, straw, and clay to make "cob" in a natural-building workshop. Photo: Kaarin Knudson/ Ecological Design Center Bamboo tubes capture rainwater and release it with a musical thump in a water catchment design project generated by University of Oregon students. Photo: Jonathon Dunn/ Ecological Design Center For the conference's concluding event, the Trashy Fashion Show, students create "glamorous" costumes from reused materials. Photo: Kaarin Knudson/ Ecological Design Center   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.