Where do materials come from? 80% of the wood extracted in Brazil is illegal, 75% of that demand is sold in the internal market; the rest is exported, with the US as one of the main buyers. Research data and latest reports in Brazil show that the documentation required to prove if this wood had been extracted legally, is easily forged. People are being threatened and killed to sustain a market that is extremely profitable. This situation is not happening just in forests in Brazil, but also in the tropical forests of Latin America, Africa, Asia and in areas of the Northern hemisphere. ‘Trees Go To Heaven’ poses the question of our responsibility as designers in this process. Do we truly know where materials come from? What are the social, human, economic and political impacts of materials' extraction in their place of origin? How are architects and designers reinforcing that chain? Trees Go To Heaven is a call for help and for a higher level of consciousness that will happen when we become truly aware of the larger impact of our choices.

Luciana Varkulja is a Brazilian architect, urban designer, researcher and educator. She collaborates on projects, researches and teaches design studios about the impact of the sharing economy in architecture, in the urban realm and in mobility. In more recent work, she is looking into how architects and designers can learn from food systems and forestry management practices in order to engage in a more sustainable approach during the design process through a responsible choice of materials, labor conditions and deeper knowledge of the supply chain, with focus on timber extraction in the Amazon Rainforest. As a collaborator, she worked on the renovation of the Coney Island Pier in New York City after Hurricane Sandy, implementing the replacement of the ipê formerly used with recycled plastic lumber, reusing the reclaimed tropical wood to design benches and other pier’s features. Ms. Varkulja is an Adjunct Professor at USC School of Architecture and a Senior Lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design.

Erick Ruiz Arellano is a Mexican sound recordist, sound artist and experimental musician. Since 2002 he has made soundscape recordings in 30 countries, mainly in Mexico and India. He has collaborated with Fonoteca Nacional in the soundscape projects of "Pueblos Mágicos" and "Chihuahua". He has performed sound art concerts at Fonoteca Nacional, Casa Del Lago, Laboratorio Sensorial, CIANF. Some of his sound pieces have been exhibited at sound art festivals such as Muslab, Sur Aural, Visiones Sonoras. He has composed 11 soundscape albums and 3 experimental music albums under the name of Llahuar Leh. He is currently doing a heritage rescue project called Voces del Origen, making recordings of native soundscapes throughout Mexico.

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Maribel Ruiz has a bicultural background with half of her life spent in Mexico and half in the US. She has worked as an exhibition designer and art preparator for multiple art organizations, such as The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and The Hammer Museum, as well as curated exhibitions for local contemporary art galleries in Los Angeles. In addition, Ms. Ruiz is pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture from the California Polytechnic State University in Pomona. Aside from her academic and professional experience, she has documented the native heritage of Mexico through a series of photographs and video recordings in an ongoing non-profit project called Voces del Origen.

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