my story

When I was a teenager I could not stay well in the city. I discovered wilderness as my cure. There I found the fresh air, clean water, and toxin-free soil I needed to stay strong physically, The scent of pine, cedar and spruce rejuvenated me. The salts and wave-power of the oceans revitalized me - and still do. I realized that it was the life force of Earth keeping me well. I also realized that our cities were killing it, and me.

In 1983, I completed my architectural thesis: ‘The Living Breathing Building’ and have been working on these ideas all my life.  I believe we must

Design for Life, not Machines

Throughout my years as President, CEO and COO of some of Canada’s top Architecture & Design firms one truth has remained constant: We believe we are designing a better world for people.

But we are not. Our Industrial-Age skyscrapers and tract housing, and their associated roads, bridges, pipelines and factories harm Earth, and make us sick. So I ask myself, ‘Why do we continue to cause this harm, and how can we change what we do?’

In Rebuilding Earth, I explore our beliefs and explain why we persist in this harm, while convincing ourselves we have no choices. I show how the Digital Age will finally free us to restore our natural connections to Earth, healing humanity and our planet. We are afraid of loss, but I explain what we gain as we make these choices. Instead of one type of wealth, there are at least five. With the changes outlined in Rebuilding Earth, I show how we can enrich ourselves through all five forms of wealth.

Rebuilding Earth is structured around my 12 Principles of Conscious Construction. It has taken a lifetime to develop them. With humanity planning to build a city the size of New York, every month, for the next 40 years, and with our planet already struggling to host us, the time for action around these principles is now.

We are planet shapers.

25% of people on the planet are involved in some way with construction. The future of Earth is ours to imagine, choose and create.