Jenna Didier

Artist, Brainstormer, Change agent, Connector, Designer, Engineer, Idea generator

Jenna is in pursuit of a new approach to the built environment. A lifelong interest in the creation and use of public space led her to Los Angeles and a career in water feature design and public art. The trajectory of her career begins with the development of technical skills in robotics, engineering, and metal fabrication to create mechanical effects, sculpture, and architectural water features, and has evolved into an active engagement in place-making for communities. She also belongs to the art and technology collaboration, Didier Hess, formed with Oliver Hess in 2004. Didier Hess creates interactive artworks for public places. They discover invisible but powerful forces influencing a site and make them tangible through interactive lighting, fog, water, or mechanical effects. To explore the development of immersive public spaces further, Jenna founded Materials & Applications, a non-profit organization dedicated to pushing forward new and underused building technologies. Please see the website for more information: www.materialsandapplications.org.

Collaborative Design- Transforming communities by giving them the tools and incentive to actively change their surroundings sustainably and meaningfully.

Urban Acupuncture - M&A's 2-3 year plan is to begin transforming blighted toxic sites around Los Angeles. We envision a kind of "urban acupuncture" that we would perform through working with community groups already involved in depressed areas of the city to inspire these communities to work together with us to both implement LID strategies (http://www.lid-stormwater.net/background.htm) and work with them to build a landmark for their neighborhood, using our exhibition courtyard first as a proof of concept space for an intervention before it is relocated/ reworked for the site in their community.

alternative architecture, Alternative building, Public Art, rainwater catchment and reuse, storm water management, water feature design and engineering

Holding my breath.