A billionaire philanthropist and disciple of Buckminster Fuller walk into a countercultural compound… The two of them along with the necessary money people and pragmatists finished development and construction of Biosphere 2 in Orcale, Arizona in Earth year 1991. The three acre site comprises simulated Earth biomes for ecological research, an agricultural center, and human habitat.
The goals? Biospheres may serve as refuge from nuclear fallout (a constant specter in late 1980s USA), and deepen our understandings of the interrelated systems of Biosphere 1, commonly known to humanity as the planet Earth.
A team of eight Biospherians then sealed themselves inside this closed system for two years, in what is still the most significant test and observation of the interdependent human <---> Nature relationship. The Biospherians ate, drank, and breathed according to the systems inside Biosphere 2. The thousands of plants provided the oxygen they needed to breathe. Their agricultural system developed the most efficient farm on Earth, providing for an overwhelming majority of the Biospherians’ nutritional needs. No group of humans thus far had ever needed to maintain such strict, acute awareness of their capacity to affect their environment.
What results from such an experiment? Who can determine the value? Certainly, scientists, philosophers, and traditional practitioners of ancient forms of land-relationship have known and understood the rules of interrelation that underpin the systems of Biosphere 1. Biosphere 2 was at one point dubbed by Time Magazine “A $150 million stunt”. We at Earth\Studies view this differently. Indeed, the initial experiments at Biosphere 2 yielded considerable insight and intrigue regarding ecology and anthropology, if those insights still feel difficult to quantify. What is the value in simply asking a question? Does it depend on the quality of the answer?
What if the most significant results of Biosphere 2 are not the “success” or “failure” of its original intentions? Nothing which ultimately teaches is a failure.
Today, Biosphere 2 stands on that granite northeast of Tucson not as a closed system with Biospherians sealed inside - But as an active research site, teeming with scientists, visitors, and yes, on two February days - Earth\Studies Cold Environments Project. Within its biomes, visitors can marvel at the incredible act of humanist curiosity, the unique architecture, and the stunning specimens of plant life that persist in Biosphere 2 today. In the former agricultural site, the world’s largest soil research project is underway, titled LEO (Landscape Evolution Observatory). Elsewhere at the site, the Space Analog for the Moon and Mars or SAM will allow for testing off-Earth habitats.
Who gets to determine the success of an experiment with such heady aspirations and lofty questions? What if the most significant results of Biosphere 2 are not the “success” or “failure” of its original intentions but in the ecological awareness it has made possible to this day?
Our obsession with linear, measurable progress can be the greatest obstacle to being present for our process. Nothing which ultimately teaches is a failure.
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We are the same people behind it. Vanishes, now with a new name reflecting the way our vision has expanded and the space we see ahead.
This represents the next chapter in our journey to create outdoor clothing from “waste” materials, while exploring a deeper relationship with the unique beauty of the natural world.
Rather than distinguish nature as a separate place that needs control, the Earth\Studies project seeks to connect people and planet through design experimentation. To discover harmonies that can exist between human expression and nature’s beauty.
Usually clothing is a barrier between our bodies and the environment. But what if clothing could be the connection between our experiences and the planet? Can color reflect our attachment with the landscape? Does texture convey our experience with weather? Might asymmetry mirror organic rhythms?
We believe exploring these connections will lead to new creative spaces that deepen the relationship with nature.
In this way, Earth\Studies products serve as tools for people to explore this world while revealing the emotion and beauty of that experience.
Finding use for overlooked or wasted material has been a critical component to the way we design and build our pieces from the beginning. We want to expand our fabrications beyond deadstock materials. Our next step is to incorporate recycled fabrics.
As we think about the consumer system of the future, recycling continues to be a critical step towards sustainability. It's crucial that waste from each step in the consumer process is folded back into itself from fabric milling to end use.
Humans are not going to stop making stuff, but the way we create must evolve. Finding more ways to promote recycled materials helps to bring us closer to a new system.
This project will experiment with a variety of new materials and processes to help shape that transition. This research is on a small scale today, but we believe that all direct action helps create standards to better care for the planet in the future.
As these values have emerged, we felt drawn to express our ideas under a new name to explore them.
We hope that you join us on the next chapter of this experimental path.
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