Biosphere 2 Architect, Dr. Phil Hawes, to Teach Permaculture at MUM

Whether you’re a Sustainable Living student or not, getting your Permaculture Design Certificate will change the way you look at food, water, energy, waste, and where you live.

Our Sustainable Living department has been fortunate enough to recently bring on Dr. Phil Hawes to teach the upcoming permaculture course in May.

Dr. Hawes has a long list of achievements and accolades in ecological design, natural building, construction, architecture, sustainable community design, sailing (as captain of a ferro-cement ship), hotel and resort development, a space laboratory design and the “Mars-sphere” design for NASA. However, he is best-known for a project known as “Biosphere 2” in Oracle, Arizona.

Dr. Hawes led the design and construction of the Biosphere 2 Complex, a sustainable Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). The Biosphere 2 project grew into an expanded EcoVillage design. The Biosphere EcoVillage was a concept for a village with a population of 5,000 in an ecologically and economically sustainable community wherein environmental architecture and techniques are organically integrated with the surrounding ecosystem.

The infrastructure of energy systems, water recycling, transportation, and other vital systems are all made a visible part of the community and serve as an educational demonstration of a modern ecological lifestyle. The Biospheric EcoVillage design also included a light industrial area for manufacturing environmentally-sound products and technologies in an ecologically sound manner.

Dr. Phil comes to MIU after serving for over 20 years at San Francisco Institute of Architecture (SFIA), where he developed curriculums for their MA and Ph.D. architecture programs. As a professor, he conducted courses in sustainable design and community planning, landscaping, structural design, and materials and methods of construction.

Over the years, Phil has been invited to locations around the world where he has held lectures, workshops, and hands-on training sessions. His project location list includes USA, England, France, Nepal, India, and Australia, with hands-on immersion training courses held in Portugal, Washington State, France, SFIA in San Francisco and Arizona, and at VPI&SU in Virginia.

With Phil on our team, we are very excited to welcome such an expert in both hands-on learning and professional mentorship. Outside of his extensive experience with ecological design, Phil is also a jeweler, painter, and sculptor.

The May 2017 Permaculture Design Certificate course will be the first to be taught at MIU by Dr. Hawes. Visit the Enrollment Center or the Sustainable Living Center to find out more about the course.

Please join us in welcoming Phil as a new member of the Sustainable Living team!

Heather Walden is the Department Administrator of MUM's Sustainable Living Department and a contributor to the MUM blogs.