Adventures

The French architect Le Corbusier — the Steve Jobs of his day, striving to change the world through design — had only one executed building in North America, and it’s right here in Cambridge. The ribbon cutting for the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, with its trademark pilotis and nautilus-shell curves, was exactly 50 years ago this fall. A tour of this extraordinary building, an icon of modernism sitting in between the Harvard Faculty Club and the Busch-Reisinger Museum, which is itself getting a contemporary addition by Renzo Piano, will highlight Le Corbusier’s radical and innovative ideas about interior and exterior space, and the role of modern architecture.  Led by TEDxBeaconStreet speaker Anthony Flint and William J. Curtis, author of “Le Corbusier at Work,” including a detailed account of the design and building of the Carpenter Center.

In 1634, the people of the newly established town of Boston in Massachusetts Bay voted in a public meeting to tax themselves to create an open space on which cows could graze and soldiers could train. Learn how, from these humble beginnings, a global land conservation movement has emerged. The walk will be led by Jim Levitt, a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University. Levitt has written extensively on the subject, and has engaged speaking audiences from Chile to China on how this tradition is critical to global sustainability in the twenty-first century.

In 1890, Charles Eliot, protégé of Frederick Law Olmsted and son of the President of Harvard had a remarkable idea , inspired by a grove of magnificent oaks in the Waverley neighborhood of Belmont and Waltham,  that lead to the creation of the world’s first regional land trust. In the tradition of the Bostonians that has persisted for nearly four centuries, Eliot’s idea took root in Massachusetts and is spreading worldwide, from Great Britain and Germany to Australia and the Czech Republic. The tour of the Waverley Trail – the second in a series that begins at the Boston Common – will be led by Jim Levitt, a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University.

In 2005, David Foster, director of the Harvard Forest, joined with a group of distinguished research scientists to envision a future for the forests of Massachusetts.  Five years later, he and a group of colleagues put together a robust vision for the future of the Forests of New England.  The vision has spurred the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative, involving large landscape conservation efforts from southern Connecticut to northern Maine.  Learn about these colleagues work, in the context of one of the most studied forests in North America, on a lovely walk through the historic Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA – about 60 miles west of Cambridge, near the Quabbin Reservoir.  The tour of the Harvard Forest  – the third in a series that begins at the Boston Common – will be led by Jim Levitt, a fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University.

Small businesses in America’s inner cities are a large and growing market that offer attractive opportunities, but have been historically underserved by banks and other traditional financial service institutions. Next Street Financial enters this market as a unique player with an innovative and proven business model, identifying the issues that stand in the way of these companies and creating creative solutions to them. Meet with Next Street’s senior management team and CEOs of their successful urban financing initiatives. Learn how Next Street combines a unique model of growth capital with advisory services in a multi-year program to create thriving businesses in the most challenging urban neighborhoods.

All-American lacrosse star and two time captain of the Boston Cannons, Dave Jenkins takes some time to provide a behind the scenes look at the world of professional lacrosse with the Boston Cannons. Take some time to get out on the field and play with one of the most talented athletes in his sport – rated best face off player and member of an NCAA championships. Hear how this Boston native worked his way up through some of the toughest and most demanding collegiate programs and earned his way into the pros. Discuss how technology and innovation have helped form the current game play and dynamics of lacrosse, collegiate and pro fitness programs, and health and wellness in general. See how we can improve the sporting experience for athletes and spectators in the modern age of sports and how the world of sports influences our modern society.

Founded in 1991, Artists For Humanity’s mission is to bridge economic, racial and social divisions by providing under-resourced youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts. Tour the LEED Platinum Certified Artists For Humanity EpiCenter, named one of the Top Ten Green Buildings in the nation by the American Association of Architects, and see the studios where Boston’s teen artists produce fine art and design services for some of the regions largest corporations and organizations.

Kairos Shen, Director of Planning for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, leads a very special walking tour through Boston’s Innovation District as he explains what goes into the enormous task of creating the future vision for our city.  On our walk, we’ll talk about some of the most notable examples of Boston’s classic buildings, see some of the newest additions to our metropolitan landscape, and discuss what goes into the difficult decision making process when considering a new skyscraper or business park. Engage Boston on a whole new level and discover what goes into keeping our rich history alive, while leading the way in cutting edge buildings that serve businesses and citizens alike.

Venture inside the walls of Massachusetts’ correctional institutions to better understand what it takes to run correctional programs that can benefit inmates and the community at the same time. Meet with inmates, officers and staff who can provide powerful insights into the present state, and the future of, corrections in the Commonwealth. Past Lock-Up Adventures have visited the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office and the Middlesex House of Correction.

At the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, an innovative lab is rethinking how we study decision making. Get an inside look at how state-of-the-art systems that measure behavior, together with a person’s physiological signals such as heart rhythms, skin sensitivity, and eye tracking, are enabling behavior research. Following a tour of the lab, and introduction to the field of decision science, get first-hand experience in how people’s behavior can make or break the effectiveness of decisions. Go beyond the theory and participate in a hands-on study examining how people work in teams to make decisions. You will see the latest thinking on decision science and how this self-knowledge can be used in your own life and in the organizations that matter to you.

You’ve watched them all: House, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy, so you’ve seen doctors run a medical code or save a critically ill child. Now, at UMass Medical School, you can experience something much closer to the real thing. Try something you never could have before and see how technology is shaping the way we train those who save lives. In a high fidelity medical simulator, complete with real medical monitors, all the tools and technology for resuscitation, and a realistic, robotic patient, you will learn how to react in the same way that medical residents do. Top faculty from the medical school will teach the techniques you need to run a code and then you’ll have a chance to try it out. Are you up to it? Lives are depending on you – will you be able to save them?

At the Cambridge Innovation Center, starting a company and developing real-world solutions in the space of a day is nothing new. Learn how some of the greatest innovations of our time have been accomplished and how the processes can be recreated. Join this hotbed of innovation and see what it’s like to start your day with a blank piece of paper and end it with a world changing business plan. In an afternoon you will form groups, identify a problem, brainstorm solutions with successful guest entrepreneurs & CIC alumni, develop a business model and an executable plan, and then make a pitch. At the closing bell, groups will gather for a “Battle of the Startups” competition. Each team will present their idea as creatively as possible. A panel of judges, seasoned entrepreneurs with successful company “exits” under their belts, will critique the presentations and ideas and vote for a winner. Participants who desire it will have an opportunity to tour CIC with its Founder, Tim Rowe, and to meet resident Super Angel Bill Warner.

As the world’s urban centers grow exponentially year after year, many leading urban infrastructure designers are researching how we can transform our cities into intelligent, functional, low-impact organisms. We start the day in the heart of a successfully developed wetland in Littleton for a hands on look at how we can design and execute landscapes that will not negatively impact water environments. Marcus Quigley, P.E., D.WRE., a nationally recognized expert on green infrastructure and water information systems, will deliver a presentation followed by an interactive discussion. Following the discussion Mr. Quigley’s will demonstrate some of his current research on distributed real-time control systems (based on the internet-of-things). A visit a constructed wetland system, a green-streets project, and porous pavement and bio-retention facilities will provide you with an up close look at the actualization of technology adapted from nature.   This great opportunity offers you the chance to learn more about the technologies that will fundamentally transform our urban centers and lifestyles over the next 10 to 20 years.

Come and take part in the historic evolution of culture and philosophy when you bring two hemispheres to the table. This is your chance to take part in an interactive performance where you are expected to be an active participant! TEDxBeaconStreet and the Greater Boston Chinese Music Ensembles are working together to demonstrate how Bostonians are shaping the future of Chinese classical music here, in the 21st century. With musical director and conductor of the GBCCA Chinese Music Ensembles, Chi-Sun Chan, founder and director of the Boston Guzheng Ensembles, Shin-Yi Yang, and eighteen-year-old Er Hu exhibitionist Muhan Zhang, you’ll be treated to a full nature-and-human themed program of orchestra and ensemble music. Explore how music and culture relate and interact and see musical theories in action. At the end of the day you’ll get a chance to explore the rich complexities of Chinese music, the way of life it embodies, and even a chance to try the instruments themselves, all at the source of Boston’s NPR Station for News and Culture: WGBH.

Now this is something you want to see in your backyard. Greentown Labs is a one of a kind clean-tech incubator that is helping engineers and entrepreneurs develop the clean energy solutions for our mounting global energy demands. See presentations by eight clean-tech start-ups and get a first-hand look at not only at their ideas, but the tools, workspaces, and techniques being used to innovate the newest solar, wind, and alternative energy technologies. A first of its kind nationwide, the Greentown Labs engineers are looking forward to hearing participants ideas on both products and applications for projects in the works.

To understand Boston, you must understand the complicated, but symbiotic relationship between Trinity Church and the John Hancock Tower. These buildings talk to each other across two centuries, informing us all about the complex and time-layered City of Boston. Come learn about the design and construction of these two stunning works of architecture – how design, technology, city planning, and engineering all coalesce to produce two magnificent structures. This Adventure will include very special tours of areas generally off limits to the public, led by the current design, engineering, and construction principals of each building. Go behind the façade of two Boston landmarks and explore the hidden history of these spectacular buildings.

Join TEDxBeaconStreet partner IDEO at their Cambridge location for a half-day workshop to imagine a future vision for Boston. Working with our creative thinkers, our fair city will be your design challenge. How might we collaborate on potential new services, experiences or initiatives for Beantown that amplify everything we love about it? Through methods including observation, prototyping and storytelling, you’ll get inspired to unlock ideas you never thought possible. Bring your energy and willingness to roll up your sleeves.

Spend an afternoon with Aaron Stockard, acclaimed writer and producer of blockbuster movies such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Good Will Hunting.  Guided by Aaron, walk the streets that inspired the characters, conflicts, and grit known so well in his films, as he talks about screenplay adaptation, film making in Boston and the close knit group of collaborators, including Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, committed to creating films that accurately represent the spirit and nuance of Boston and the townie sub-cultures of New England. Learn what it takes to bring a story to life, from the birth of an idea, to the creation of a film. Expect fantastic insights and intriguing back stories, told by one of the greatest storytellers our city posses.

You can learn a lot about looking at a city at night. Experience the difference, take on Boston in the dark! Hop on a trolley for a nighttime tour of the places that mark Boston’s history. Boston tourism expert Christian Vanderslice will lead you through The Cradle of Liberty and the Birthplace of Freedom as a DJ serenades you with a soundtrack of the city. Learn about the competitive tourism industry in Boston while visiting historical sites including Charlestown Navy Yard and the USS Constitution. It’s not often that you can tour Boston’s historic sites after dark, and rarely does a trolley tour end in a post-party complete with discussion and celebration!

Experience a rare, behind the scenes tour of Google’s Kendall Square innovation powerhouse. Explore how Google is changing our world, from improving the way we access and experience books to upgrading social media and broadening access to information. Meet the engineers who have pioneered countless digital breakthroughs as we discuss how this technology is changing the world we live in.

The simple answer to that question is: through the work of skilled craftsmen and musicians. But the story is obviously more nuanced than that, as the craftsmen and musicians at the Von Heune Workshop know very well. For over 50 years, they have specialized in making and repairing a variety of historical woodwind instruments from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern eras, with a particular focus on recorders. For this Adventure, the experts at the Von Heune Workshop will give two recorder players an in-depth look at this fascinating, intricate process which begins with a small amount of wood and ends with a breathtaking melody.

The Fogg Museum is the oldest of Harvard University’s three museums, having opened in 1897, twenty-one years after Harvard appointed Charles Eliot Norton to be both Harvard and America’s first professor of art history.  Over the last 115 years, the Fogg has become world-renowned for its prodigious collection of Western paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other media, which date from the Middle Ages to today.  During this Adventure, participants will experience an astounding behind-the-scenes exploration of the artistic content and intellectual talent that enliven one of America’s most prestigious museums.

The sport of kite surfing is said to combine elements of windsurfing, wake boarding, surfing, paragliding and gymnastics. Awesome, right? This growing sport, first imagined in the 19th century, and made possible only by advances in materials science that have occurred in the past decade, is set to replace windsurfing in the 2016 Olympics. Ori Herrnstadt started kite surfing in the Dominican Republic in 2001, just as it was emerging, and started teaching soon after. Spend the day with Ori and the techniques you need to get up on a board.

Spend a morning with Boldfacers.com, a multi-media online publication showcasing the area’s coolest talent and personalities. We can’t promise whom you’ll meet (could be anyone from a voo doo priest to a criminal lawyer), but we can promise you an introduction to the brightest up and coming stars.

Do you think you have natural surgical skills? Lets find out.  Come join Dr Steven Schwaitzberg and his team of researchers at Harvard Medical School at the Cambridge Health Alliance and try your hand on the real  laparoscopic  skills used to assess surgeons in training.  Adventurers will get their chance to try the skills of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery Examination (FLS)  which is required of all general surgeons in training.  Scores will be recorded  throughout  the day  and  a Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)  t-shirt will be sent to the winner along with significant bragging rights.

Dr Schwaitzberg is the immediate Past President of  SAGES representing 6000+ surgeons  and the current Chairman of the FLS program. Locally, he is the Chief of Surgery at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.

Open to potential surgeons of all ages