Lara Davis
Lara Davis is an architect, structural masonry expert and co-director at the Auroville Earth Institute, India, UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture. She is a specialist in earthen construction and the structural design and construction of thin-shell masonry vaulting (in particular with Catalan vaulting). She holds a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) at Alfred University and an M.Arch from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Lara has been the recipient of multiple international research awards for her work at the MIT Masonry Research group, the Institute for Lightweight Structures (ILEK)/ University Stuttgart (Germany), the BLOCK Research Group/ ETH Zürich (Switzerland), and the Future Cities Laboratory (Singapore). She has worked professionally as a mason, foreman, architect, junior engineer and project manager, leading key constructions and teaching workshops in India, Algeria, Ethiopia, Switzerland, UK and USA. Her work has been exhibited at the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA), The MIT Museum, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Venice Biennale. |
Lucas Dengel Lucas is a doctor trained in medicine at the University of Mainz, Germany. He has over fourteen years experience in the fields of public hygiene with focus on public health related to environment. He coordinated a Unicef program addressing water management in Tamil Nadu schools and has produced a number of educational materials about sanitation and water management. He founded AuroAnnam, a business unit of Auroville in 2000 to promote organic farming and ecological sanitation. He is also the founder of Eco-Pro, a business unit specializing in EM (Effective Microorganisms) technology. Marc Tormo Marc is a coffee roaster, creative cook and food consultant. In 2008, he founded Coffee Ideas, a business unit of Auroville that roasts and distributes organic coffee. Since 2002, he has been a consultant to several clients : Le Café (Pondicherry), Neemrana Group of Hotels (New Delhi), Eco-café (Chennai) among others. Previously, he opened two cafes in Granollers, Barcelona and was co-owner of Tormo A & Asociados, Barcelona which promoted quality coffee, teas and chocolates. He organizes tours to promote awareness in his consumers of the coffee production cycle and its environmental impact, emphasizing a holistic food approach.Martin Scherfler Martin is living in Auroville since 2006. Before coming to Auroville he worked with Nistha Rural Health, Education and Environment Centre based in Dharamsala. For the last two years, he has been coordinating the Living Routes Auroville, an educational program that brings students from USA to Auroville to study different aspects of sustainability. He holds a Master degree in Sociology and has several years of experience in research. Martin is a co-founder of Auroville Consulting.
Mona Doctor-Pingel Mona graduated from the School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad and did her masters in Germany on Appropriate Technology at Flensburg University. She is practicing in Auroville since 1990. Her Studio offers a personalised approach to holistic solutions for designing and building - stressing on research in the fields of Baubiology ( Building Biology) and activating the five senses through architecture, interiors and landscaping while combining beauty and functionality. Sustainability for her is a way of life and not an add-on. She has also been a core group member of the Dreamcatchers, a forum for envisioning and participatory city planning. She is currently a member of L'Avenir d' Auroville, Auroville's Town Planning and Development Group.Ok jeong Lee
Ok(Okjeong Lee) is a designer and artist of Upcycling. She was a fashion designer for more than 20 years in Korea. She settled in Auroville in 2008, started Ok Upcycling collection in 2011. In 2015 she co-founded Up cycling Studio in Aurville. It is an open source design and art space. She is passionate about making something from nothing as a lifestyle. Her work started from the wish to save our Earth!ÂÂ She crafts bags and hats from cassette and video tapes, fabrics, plastics and PVC, and do Art installations from cds and other materials. Paul Blanchflower Paul has over twenty years of experience in forestry and landscaping. He arrived in Auroville in 1991 from Scotland after graduating in Forestry and Ecology at Edinburgh University. He founded the Auroville Botanical Gardens in 2000 that offers a variety of services for land management and landscaping. He is currently engaged in developing the gardens with emphasis on environmental education for the local school children. His recent projects include a resort landscape for Mahindra Hoildays, anda landscape for the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chennai in addition to other projects in Kashmir, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Prashant Hedao Prashant is an Environmental Planner and GIS Analyst with over 20 years of experience in using GIS in various fields such as Ecological Planning and Biodiversity Conservation. Previously, he worked with ESRI, USA and with World Wildlife Fund-US on biodiversity conservation projects in Asia, South America, Africa and the US. Since return to India in 2003, he worked on long-term Tsunami rehabilitation planning through Auroville Coastal-area Development Centre. Till recently, he was the Regional PlanningCoordinatorat L’avenir d’Auroville and a consultant to Environment Agency (EAD), Abu Dhabi UAE. He holds a bachelors degreein Architecture from JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai and a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from University of Pennsylvania.
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GreenAcres campaign
Fundraising for expanding the Auroville Greenbelt.
Our eco-zone is under threat of rapid urbanization, this is an urgent move to reverse the trend and extend activities.