ENGINEERING TRADITIONS IN ALASKA

The Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) at the University of Alaska in Anchorage has a new building that is becoming a cultural icon. ANSEP serves many different indigenous cultures, each with different ideas about appropriate symbolism. The building's final form was based on an icon shared by all native Alaskans — the canoe. Next week, writer Brian Libby will explain how the form is also a quintessential example of great engineering, combining beauty and functionality.

TRADITIONAL CONSTRUCTION IN JAVA

There are 300 steps leading down to a valley in Java, to the village of Kampung Naga. Here, the people consciously maintain knowledge of their ancestors and their traditional lifestyles, incorporating social equality and a close relationship with nature. Next week, sociologist Gabriella Mihalyi will show how this philosophy relates to their construction methods using local materials of timber, stone, bamboo, and palm leaves.