Media contacts: Sarah Haun, Van Alen Institute: shaun@vanalen.org, t 212 924 7000 x12; Natalie Raabe, The New Yorker: natalie_raabe@newyorker.com, 212-286-6591
Video Marks the Debut of Van Alen Sessions Season Five
Van Alen Institute and The New Yorker today announced the fifth season of Van Alen Sessions, an online short-documentary video series highlighting current debates about urban infrastructure and climate change. This latest installment, “Fireproofing the Future in California,” examines how landowners, developers, and the state must rethink the design of homes and communities in the face of wildfires. The video is live now on both organizations’ Web sites.
“Fireproofing the Future in California” points to the urgent issue of the “wildland-urban interface,” areas where homes are built near or among undeveloped lands. While demand for this type of housing grows across the Western U.S., more intense and frequent wildfires in these areas are destroying lives, homes, and forests at record levels. Heartbreaking footage and stories from experts and those living and working in the fire zones of California illustrate the choices we must make to build safer homes and communities in the era of climate change.
Accompanying the video is an essay by New Yorker staff writer Dana Goodyear, who writes about California residents who are asking themselves how to build now, in the context of increasingly extreme weather.
“Across its five seasons, our Van Alen Sessions series has significantly contributed to dialogue on the most pressing infrastructure, climate, and quality of life issues affecting our urban environments, landscapes, and regions,” said Elissa Black, interim executive director of Van Alen Institute. “Weaving together the analysis of experts and the experiences of everyday people, ‘Fireproofing the Future’ powerfully illustrates the impact that design and multi-disciplinary approaches can have in safeguarding our communities for the future.”
Van Alen Sessions Season Five: “Fireproofing the Future in California” is a project of Van Alen Institute, produced in partnership with The New Yorker. The film was directed by the Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker and writer Merete Mueller, with editorial direction from The New Yorker. Ms. Mueller also co-produced and directed Van Alen Sessions Season Four: “Turning the Tide in Miami,” in 2018. Her feature-length work explores the impact of built spaces and landscape on our personal experiences and has screened at SXSW and Hot Docs. Her short-form videos have appeared on the New York Times, The Atlantic, and VICE’s Web sites.
On Monday, February 11th, Van Alen Institute, The New Yorker, and SVA MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism hosted the première screening of “Fireproofing the Future in California” at SVA Theatre. The screening was followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker, Merete Mueller, along with Mark Johnson, FASLA, president of Civitas landscape architecture and a member of Van Alen Institute’s board and Climate Council; Robert Field, a climate scientist and drought expert at Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies; and Bob Williams, (President, Pine Creek Forestry, New Jersey). Carolyn Kormann, staff writer at The New Yorker, moderated the discussion.
This season of Van Alen Sessions is the first of two seasons planned for 2019, with the next due out in early June. Previous seasons have explored massive transit-tunnel building projects, the relationship between energy infrastructure and communities, the impact of automation on urban infrastructural systems, and the effects of sea-level rise on the city of Miami. All previous episodes may be viewed on Van Alen’s Web site.
About The New Yorker
The New Yorker is a multi-platform media enterprise, spanning print, digital, audio, and video content, and live events. With more than a million subscribers to the weekly magazine and twenty million readers every month on newyorker.com, The New Yorker delivers unparalleled reporting and commentary on politics, foreign affairs, business, technology, popular culture, and the arts, along with humor, fiction, poetry, and cartoons. Reaching beyond print, digital editions, and apps, you can find The New Yorker’s writers, editors, and artists on the radio on “The New Yorker Radio Hour” and at marquee events like the New Yorker Festival. The creativity, influence, and impact that have characterized The New Yorker since its founding, in 1925, are today amplified far beyond its pages.
About Van Alen Sessions
Van Alen Sessions is a series of short documentary videos that investigate critical issues of infrastructure and the built environment. The program was launched in 2016 to humanize monumental design and planning issues and make complex policies relevant, enriching viewers’ understanding of design’s impact on everyday lives.
Van Alen Sessions Season One dealt with massive transit tunnel building projects, while Season Two explored the relationship between energy infrastructure and communities. Season Three investigated the impact of automation on urban infrastructural systems. Season Four showcased the impact of sea level rise on the city of Miami and how residents, artists, business people, and other leaders are working to raise awareness and using creativity and design to adapt to a changing environment. All four seasons to date may be viewed via Van Alen’s website.
Van Alen Institute has produced Van Alen Sessions with talented documentary film directors and graduate student researchers, and shared finished videos with the public through media partners as well as its own online channels. Funding for Season Five has come from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Fledgling Fund. Prior to The New Yorker, Van Alen’s media partners have included The Atlantic and CityLab.
About Van Alen Institute
At Van Alen, we believe design can transform cities, landscapes, and regions to improve people’s lives. We collaborate with communities, scholars, policymakers, and professionals on local and global initiatives that rigorously investigate the most pressing social, cultural, and ecological challenges of tomorrow. Celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2019, Van Alen builds on more than a century of experience to develop cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions.