Global Spa & Wellness Summit, Day Two (Part 3)

Post-lunch, the GSWS delegation re-convened on busy day two for a Tech Jam, with everyone bringing their latest versions of wearable technology. Lori Hutchinson and Stacy Conlon demonstrated hula hoops that measure your efforts; Peter Anderson shared the Sleep Cycle app on his phone, Clare Matorano uses Fitbit, Rosemarie showed off Misfit Shine and Yamuna Zake shared a software tool for which she spearheaded development; the software allows users to obtain in-depth knowledge of their musculature and to self-diagnose and perhaps respond to general aches and pains. Various audience members shared their devices, including Sammy Ghareini with a breathylizer and Don Genders with a heart rate monitor.

The afternoon’s first keynote was delivered by the inspirational and cutting-edge Bjarke Ingels, the Danish head of architecture firm BIG. Ingels and his firm create fantastical buildings, although the word “buildings” doesn’t do justice to the structures he shared in his slide presentation. The firm works from “information-driven design”—when bidding on a project they research deeply into the company and area for specific information that will inform the design decisions they make.

All of the creations Ingels showed were one-of-a-kind and extremely clever, both from a design and engineering perspective. One building was an expansion of a headquarters for a watch-making company, and the firm created a structure that’s mostly underground, circular in design and folded in on itself, mirroring the image and process of watch-making. BIG also attempts to extract as much performance out of as little material as possible; in this instance the structure has no columns, with concrete and glass providing the support. Another commission was, in essence, an entire neighborhood in Copenhagen, in a multi-ethnic area, and many design elements were incorporated to represent each of the ethnicities, along with an app that explains the objects and their inspiration.

Any one of these creations would have been the pride of most architecture firms, but the list went on and on, culminating with a recently won commission to create a power plant. With power plants not generally not a desired neighbor, BIG created one that has not only a beautiful outward esthetic, but will be built in a way that allows the creation of a ski slope, complete with trees, on the roof. During the bidding process, the firm envisioned the building puffing out a big smoke ring each time it had collected 1 million lbs of CO2. Once they won the commission, they had to figure out how to actually make that happen, which they were successful in doing.

Ingels related that architecture “turns something that isn’t there into something,” and the firm’s futuristic solutions to urban building challenges left everyone amazed and inspired about what can happen when you think, to borrow a cliché, outside the box.

A special video interview with Dr. Oz was shared, and then two more concurrent sessions: Architect’s Peek into the Future, moderated by Erica Orange of Weiner, Edrich & Brown, with short presentations by 7 architects including Robert Henry and Inge Moore, and Back to the Future: Wellness Pioneers Discuss their Journeys, with Don Ardell and Dr. Jack Travis. Ardell and Travis discussed their journeys on the wellness path. Ardell was inspired by Robert Green Ingersoll, who lived from 1833-1899, and whom he can quote at length, and his own 1997 book, High Level Wellness, is packed with still-relevant information on living a healthy lifestyle. Travis believes that “the currency of wellness is connection,” and this theme of connection, especially between children and parents, is recurrent in his research and developments over the years.

Earlier keynoter Kjell Nordstrom delivered a half-hour wrap-up session, and then it was off to change for the gala dinner! —Lisa Starr