285: Exploring Design and Community with Filmmaker Allie Rood

In this episode of the Passive House Podcast Jay Fox interviews Vermont filmmaker Allie Rood about her documentary Prickly Mountain and My Design Build Life, which traces the design-build architecture movement that began in Warren, Vermont around 1963 and influenced design-build programs nationwide. Rood explains her personal connection through her father’s work in the community, the movement’s roots among Yale architects reacting against the designer/builder class divide, and ideas like Dave Sellers’ “Wild Beam Theory” of improvisational building. She contrasts early sculptural ski houses with a later sustainability-focused generation behind the Dimetrodon co-housing project and discusses Yestermorrow’s emergence as a design-build school. Rud also recounts the film’s 10-year production, funding and grant challenges, finding an editor, shifting to a personal narrative, and current festival distribution and screening plans.

https://allieroodfilms.com/
Trailer for the film: https://vimeo.com/1125499443?fl=pl&fe=sh
Reimagine Buildings: Designing for Survivability: https://events.ringcentral.com/events/reimagine-buildings-survivability/registration

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