P.01
Observe before operating
Ecologies are irreducible. We read the site—water, slope, soil, species, people—before we impose a design.
THE PRACTICE
Biosphere(x) is not a company, a commune, or a closed system. It is a working process: an effort to relearn, research, and implement techniques of permanent cultures inside the only biosphere we have.
NAMEBIOSPHERE(X)
VARIABLEx = THE UNKNOWN INPUT
COORDINATES42.2781° N / 74.9160° W
01ORIGIN
“In a small closed ecological system the equation ‘our biosphere’s health equals our health’ becomes dramatically evident.”Nelson and Alling / Biosphere 2 crew members, 1993
THE NAME IS A
BORROWED
INSTRUCTION.
Biosphere 2 was an experiment in a closed system: a physical boundary, a two-year mission, and a crew trying to grow food, produce compost, and recycle waste without external input. It lasted less than two years. The material constraints were real, but the social breakdowns were just as instructive.
We take that as evidence of the irreducibility of the biosphere and the complexity of social dynamics—things that will take more than the scientific method to reconcile.
Biosphere(x) is not part of the lineage of Biosphere 2 or Bios-3. It is an effort and a process, seeking out the variable inputs “x” to create a permanent culture that strengthens itself within Biosphere 1.
02OPERATIONS
WHAT WE
ACTUALLY DO.
Our activities include the procurement of land, reforestation and rewilding through permaculture, food production through permaculture and controlled growing methods such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics.
We work to complete nutrient cycles in-house, leverage automation to augment the work, procure and store energy, and run the financial due diligence that keeps the physical systems alive.
None of this is separate from culture. The systems only hold if the people around them can maintain them, teach them, and repair them.
03OPERATING PRINCIPLES
P.02
Close the loops
Nutrients, water, energy, materials, and knowledge should cycle inside the system, not leak out of it.
P.03
Build with what is here
Salvaged material, open-source tools, local seed, existing skill. Appropriate technology over spectacle.
P.04
Make the practice visible
Documentation, workshops, and mutual aid turn a private experiment into shared infrastructure.
04FRAMEWORKS
BORROWED,
TESTED,
REVISED.
Biosphere(x) draws from many avenues—permaculture, the open-source community and technology, and Indigenous cultures—without pretending they are interchangeable.
01
Permaculture design science
02
Open-source ecology
03
Indigenous land knowledge
04
Biosphere 2 / closed-system research
05
Seasonal hierarchy
06
Myths of progress
07
Death denial
08
Climate change
05CREW
SMALL CREW.
LONG HORIZON.
A rotating group of builders, growers, engineers, cooks, and technicians. The work is distributed; the responsibility is shared.
06 OPERATORS / ONE FIELD
CR-01ACTIVE
JO
Josh
Chef / Fermentation Specialist
CR-02ACTIVE
DK
DK
Strategist
CR-03ACTIVE
AC
Acre
Engineer in Training
CR-04ACTIVE
LI
Liz
Water / Environmental Engineer
CR-05ACTIVE
CH
Chris
Permaculturalist
CR-06ACTIVE
CO
Cody
Development Ops