PART ONE
When the Forest Becomes a Venue: How We Brought Joseph Dahmen to Cortes Island
There's a particular kind of conversation that can only happen in a forest. Not the kind that takes place on a panel stage or in a lecture hall — but the kind where the ideas being discussed are literally alive all around you, mycelium underfoot.
Last summer, we hosted three of those conversations at Ellingsen Woods. This is the story of the first one.
The Invitation
When Aaron and I started planning what we wanted the first season of programming at Ellingsen Woods to look like, we knew we didn't want to simply host events. We wanted to host encounters — between guests and the land itself.
That led us, fairly naturally, to Joseph Dahmen.
Joe is an Associate Professor at UBC's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, where he founded the Biogenic Architecture Lab in 2021 and chairs the Bachelor of Design in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urbanism. His work focuses on architectural applications of mycelium and other living, biogenic materials. He's been published in leading scholarly journals, covered by the Globe and Mail, Fast Company, and the CBC, and his built work includes a western red cedar pavilion at UBC constructed from trees reclaimed within two kilometres of the site.
What We Built — and Why It Mattered
The event itself took place in the outdoor events space below our gallery on the south parcel — a natural amphitheatre of sorts, carved out of the second-growth forest at 1051 Lagoon Road. We set up seating on benches in the clearings and installed an interactive outdoor exhibit walk that led the observers up to the gallery where the UBC Exhibit was installed.
Kenny Hanuse opened the evening with a traditional welcome song and blessing for our project. We were so grateful for his presence as many of the Klahoose First Nation members were not on the Island due to being on the Canoe Journey. Following Kenny's wonderful singing and drumming Aaron's Dad, Andy Ellingsen, shared a few words about the history of the land on Lagoon Rd.
Then Joe took the stage briefly speaking about the relationship between material and architecture exploring what it means to design not just with wood, but with living systems. He talked about the mycelium biocomposites that actively regenerate and what this might look like in future architecture.
To close off the evening, Paul Stamets, mycologist and researcher, spoke about his own connecting to saw milling (working on a green chain in his youth) and his life long relationship with mycelium.
This diverse group of speakers attracted a very wide and diverse crowd and over 100 people were in attendance for the Innaugural Night. We felt the event was a great success and we were very excited for the Summer Series to have begun.
I should say something here about the unique position I occupy in this scenario.
I'm a licensed Realtor and I've been helping people buy and sell rural property on Cortes and the surrounding area for a few years now. I know what it looks like when land is treated as a financial instrument. What we are trying to manifest at Ellingsen Woods is deliberately the opposite of that.
Although investments in Real Estate in the Discovery Islands have done exceptionally well over the past 20 years, vastly outperforming other products in the traditional investment market I would argue there is a much more significant value available when you purchase property on Cortes Island.
What's Next in This Series
Part Two takes us into even stranger, more musical territory. We were honoured to host brothers Merlin and Cosmo Sheldrake for an evening that was equal parts mycology lecture and live performance — only on Cortes Island.
I'll write about that next.
Jeramie Ellingsen is a licensed REALTOR® based on Cortes Island and co-steward of Ellingsen Woods, a regenerative rural land project at 1051 Lagoon Road at Seaford Road on Cortes Island, BC. She and her husband Aaron are currently pursuing a zoning amendment through the Strathcona Regional District to formally enable the project's long-term vision.
If you're curious about rural land on Cortes Island — what to look for, what to ask, and what's possible — get in touch.
