He speaks what the trees cannot (AUDIO ONLY)

•  Dan Handel explains the kinship that exists between forests and spatial design

•  “We have a good chance of actually being in a better place”

 (Total Recorded Time is 20:00)

HAIFA, Israel -- They stand there for 50, 100, even 500 years until felled by chainsaw, fire, disease or storm.  These are the trees of our forests, which cover fully one-third of the land of the United States.

And while you think you know your local woody areas or even forests, Dan Handel really knows forests and how they impact how we live – and how people are impacting forests

Dan Handel joins us for this Bizgnus Interview.

Mr. Handel is a writer whose work focuses on research-based projects with special attention to underexplored ideas, figures, and practices that shape contemporary built environments.

He is an optimist, despite the daily reports of hurricanes, floods and massive wildfires.

“The crises we are facing … are at least a crisis of the imagination,” he says. “And when I say a crisis of the imagination is that because we collectively act in certain ways it accelerates the crises but at the same time we could reconsider some of our assumptions … in science and public policy. When we get there, we have a good chance of actually doing things differently and being in a better place.”

His new book is “Designed Forests: A Cultural History,” (Routledge; November 2024) which, according to its publicist, “explores the unique kinship that exists between forests and spatial design; the forest’s influence on architectural culture and practice; and the potentials and pitfalls of ‘forest thinking’ for more sustainable and ethical ways of doing architecture today.”