Ideas + Art + Science
Alpine Atelier is a partnership between Carlo Schmidt and Pinaki. We think of ideas, connect artists and scientists, and work towards solutions for our environment.
We work, and live, high up the famed alps of the Valais in Switzerland. These wild mountains and desolate valleys are what inspire us. But they are also where we see the effects of climate change: all around us, the great glaciers are receding.
We are determined to find ways to preserve our environment.
Mining Toxin with Plants
Phytomining is the production of a `crop' of a metal by growing high-biomass plants that accumulate high metal concentrations. Some of these plants are natural hyperaccumulators, and in others the property can be induced. Pioneering experiments in this field might lead to a `green' alternative to existing, environmentally destructive, opencast mining practices. Phytomining for a range of metals is a real possibility, with the additional potential of the exploitation of ore bodies that it is uneconomic to mine by conventional methods.
Who we are
Carlo Schmidt unterrichtete an der Kantonalen Kunstschule édhéa (damals ECAV) im Bereich visuelle Kunst. Er war Mitinitiant und Gründungsstifter der gemeinnützigen Stiftung Schloss Leuk, wo er während der Restauration des unter dem Schutz der Eidgenossenschaft stehenden Bischofsschlosses in Leuk-Stadt unter dem Architekten Mario Botta als Geschäftsleiter wirkte.