Lesson video

Hi, I'm Miss Miah.

Thank you so much for joining me in this art lesson today.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I'll.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, you'll be able to use creativity and design to imagine hopeful futures for people and planet.

Your keywords are on the screen now, and I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Harmony.

Sustainability.

Imagine.

Fabulous.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Harmony: when different parts work peacefully together.

Sustainability: something that cares for and protects the planet.

Imagine: to picture or design something in your mind.

Those are our keywords for this lesson.

Let's move on.

So this lesson is all about imagining a better future.

We've got two lesson cycles in this lesson, and our first lesson cycle is to do with designing with nature in mind.

Then we're going to be sketching greener worlds.

I hope you're excited.

I'm definitely excited about this one.

Let's go.

Hmm.

Where have you seen humans and nature living together in a positive way? This could be a real place, you know, or an imagined one.

I have seen human and nature living together in a positive way at my local park, people have built paths and benches so everyone can enjoy the space, but they have also planted lots of trees, wild flowers, and a pond for the ducks and insects.

The park shows harmony because humans can relax and play there while the plants and animals still have a safe and healthy place to live.

Sustainability means caring for the planet so it stays healthy for the future.

This includes using natural materials, saving energy, reducing waste, and protecting animals and habitats.

Living sustainably means making choices that help care for the planet so it stays healthy for the future.

This means using natural materials that don't harm the environment like wood or stone instead of plastic.

It also means saving energy by turning off lights, using solar panels or walking instead of driving when possible.

Living sustainably also means reducing waste by recycling, reusing things, and not throwing away things we can use again.

It means protecting animals and their homes so nature stays balanced and strong.

When we live sustainably, we help the earth keep providing clean air, water, and food.

So plants, animals, and people can all thrive for a long time.

Examples of artists who use their work to show how humans and nature can support one another.

Olafur Eliasson uses light, water and air to remind us that we depend on the earth.

Maya Lin creates memorials and landscape artworks that protect disappearing habitats.

Francis Kere builds with local, natural materials to help communities stay cool, healthy, and connected.

Mary Mattingly designs floating gardens and eco homes to show new ways of living sustainably.

Over to you, which artist creates floating gardens to imagine future eco living? We have three artists here.

Is it A, Francis Kere? B, Mary Mattingly? Or C, Maya Lin? What do you think? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you think? If you got B, Mary Mattingly, you are correct.

Mary Mattingly is the artist who creates floating gardens to imagine future eco living.

Let's move on.

Harmony means living in balance with nature.

It's when humans and the natural world support each other sharing space, resources, and care.

People can live in harmony with nature when spaces include plants, clean energy, water systems, wildlife habitats and materials are good for the planet.

You might imagine: a future city with green roofs, water gardens, and solar energy.

A floating community like Mary Mattingly's.

A nature memorial inspired by Maya Lin.

Or a school or home made from natural materials, like Francis Kere's work.

When artists design with harmony and sustainability in mind, they create places where people and nature can thrive together, now and in the future.

Aisha and Alex discuss ideas for their sustainable environment.

Aisha says, I imagined a monument for endangered animals like Maya Lin's work, where visitors learn how to care for nature and see real plants growing around it.

Alex says, What if there was a floating village like Mary Mattingly's, with gardens on every roof and solar panels? People could grow food and protect the river wildlife.

That's a fantastic idea.

Back to you.

Which artist uses local, natural materials to design buildings that help both people and the planet? Is it A, Mary Mattingly.

B, David Hockney? Or C, Francis Kere? When you've got the answer, click play.

You can pause the video now.

So what did you get? If you got C, you are correct.

Francis Kere uses local, natural materials to design buildings that help both people and the planet.

Onto the main task, for this lesson cycle.

In pairs, I'd like you to describe a place, structure, or landscape where humans and nature live together in harmony.

This can be a real place you've seen or a completely imagined one.

Think about what natural elements are included.

How do people use the space and how does nature benefit? You can pause the video here and click play once you've finished your discussion.

So how did it go? Well, you should have discussed your imagined place and described the natural features of any place that you also have seen.

So someone here said, I imagined a park with lots of trees and flowers where people walk on wooden paths.

Hey, that reminds me of a place that I'm very familiar with Bushy Park, near Hampton Court Palace.

Let's carry on, there are bird houses and small ponds for animals to live in.

That sounds lovely.

I thought of a school with a green roof covered in plants.

It collects rainwater and helps keep the building cool.

So both people and nature feel happy.

Well done for having your discussion.

Let's move on to lesson cycle two.

For this lesson cycle, you will now be sketching a greener world.

Hmm.

Have a look at this picture.

If you could design a place where humans and nature could live happily together, what would it look like? Hmm.

If I could design a place where humans and nature could live happily together, it would be full of green spaces like gardens, parks, and forests.

There would be lots of trees and flowers for animals to live in and people to enjoy.

The buildings would have big windows to let in sunlight and solar panels to use clean energy from the sun.

There would be places for people to grow their own food, like vegetable patches and fruit trees so we can eat fresh and help the planet.

Paths for walking and biking would be everywhere to keep the air clean and make it easy to enjoy nature.

The air and water would be clean, and animals like birds, bees, and butterflies would feel safe and welcome.

It would be a place where people and nature help each other grow and stay healthy.

Now, artists often sketch or model their ideas before building them.

Your sketch will help you imagine a future where people and nature support one another.

To make your designs richer, you could include textures, inspired by tree, bark leaves, stones, or frottage rubbings.

You could also include shapes inspired by fossils, shells, seeds, or waves.

And lastly, you could include patterns, echo natural forms. For example, spirals, ripples, branching, shapes.

True or false? Patterns in nature like spirals, waves, and branches can inspire designs for future buildings.

Is this true or is this false? And can you think why? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got true, that's correct and that is because patterns like spirals, waves and branches are found in nature and often inspire architects and artists to create beautiful, sustainable designs.

Well done if you got that correct.

Let's move on.

Now, when it comes to sketching your greener world, you may think about how people will use this place.

How nature will be protected or cared for.

How the design will make people feel hopeful or connected.

Now, your design can help people or your audience feel hopeful by showing how nature and humans can live together in a positive way.

When people see plants growing, sunlight shining through windows or animals finding safe places, they're reminded that the world can heal and grow.

Your design can also help people feel connected by showing familiar natural shapes, textures, and patterns.

When someone sees leaves, spirals, stones, all flowing lines in your artwork, it can help them remember that they are a part of nature too, because these are things that we see in everyday life.

By combining these ideas, your design can encourage others to imagine a greener kind of future where people and nature support one another.

Let's move on.

Artist inspiration you could think about: Eliasson's connection to natural elements.

Lin's care for endangered places.

Kere's use of local, sustainable materials.

Mattingly's floating gardens and eco living ideas.

So these are artists that we can take inspiration from when it comes to sketching our greener worlds.

There may be other artists that you also at.

Back to you, which feature could show harmony with nature in your design? Is it A, a roof made only of metal? B, a building with no plants? C, a garden walkway that collects rain water? Or D, a space with no natural light? What do you think? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got C, you are correct.

A garden walkway that collects rainwater is a feature which shows harmony with nature.

Well done if you got that correct.

Let's move on.

We're onto our final task for this lesson.

I'd like you to design your own place, structure, or landscape of the future, a place where humans and nature live together in harmony.

You could include textures or patterns inspired by fossils, leaves of frottage rubbings.

You could label features showing how the space helps both people and the natural world.

And lastly, use your imagination, colors, shapes, and natural forms. You can pause the video here.

Off you go.

Have fun and click play when you're ready to rejoin us.

So how did that go? Here is an example of a design space that shows harmony between people and nature.

A house designed like this can show harmony for a greener world in several ways.

Plants growing around the house show that humans and nature can share space.

Instead of pushing each other out.

A garden patch supports wildlife like insects and birds, helping the ecosystem stay healthy.

Big glass windows, letting natural light, reducing the need for electricity, and showing how design can work with nature instead of against it.

Solar panels use clean, renewable energy from the sun, helping the home run in a sustainable way.

Grass growing on the roof, a green roof keeps the house cool, it saves energy and provides a small habitat for plants and insects that's quite imaginative.

So together these features show harmony because the house and nature work together, not separately.

The home supports the environment and the environment supports the home creating a greener and healthier world.

Let's summarize our learning for this lesson.

So this lesson was all about imagining a better future.

You now understand that artists help us imagine better futures by showing harmony between people and nature.

Sustainable design uses natural materials and ideas to protect the planet.

Lastly, we can imagine and create places where humans and nature live in harmony.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson, and I really hope you enjoyed it.

Bye.