The Survival Architect

The Survival Architect Prepping, 1 (2024)

The Survival Architect Prepping 2 (2024)

The Survival Architect Prepping 3 (2024)

The Survival Architect Prepping, 4 (2024)

The Survival Architect Prepping, 5 (2024)

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About the Series

The Survival Architect is a persona I perform. The above series of photographs and video frame the character cutting and clearing out the bottom dead branches from trees. These actions help to improve a forest’s resilience to fire and reduce the risk of crown fires.

I designed and created the clothing and also perform and document the character. With the exception of the boot covers, the clothing is made using a heat resistant fabric.

This footage was shot in Nova Scotia, CAN which was impacted by hurricane Fiona in 2022. Fiona caused a great deal of damage to forests as well as personal property across the province. As oceans continue to warm, more severe storms are traveling further north. And the damage these storms cause to forests increase their risk to wildfires. In fact, in 2023, Nova Scotia had its worst wildfire seasons in recorded history. Further to that, typically after wildfires, there is a greater risk of flooding, given, when it rains, there is little to no vegetation to retain the water and so the water rushes off swiftly causing an increased risk of flash floods. Perhaps not surprisingly, there were several flash flood incidents in NS last year following the wildfires.

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With Thanks

Created with support from a First Year Assistant Professor Grant awarded by the Office of Research at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.