After the atmospheric rivers hit Los Angeles in 2024, thousands of tons of landslide soil were blocking Hwy 27, Topanga Canyon’s main thoroughfare. Lauren Bon discovered the soil would be taken to the dump and convinced CalTrans to divert it to our studio instead—we took 150 truckloads, and integrated this rich soil into the fabric of urban Los Angeles. This was the beginning of Moving Mountains.
We had established a pattern of co-operation with state and local government, and after the 2025 wildfires, they reached out to us with a new opportunity. Large swathes of chapparal forest in Topanga Canyon had to be removed. Instead of letting these trees be discarded, we treated them as a resource. We brought them to Metabolic Studio.
These trunks and branches became part of our ecosystem. We integrated them into our hugelkulturs, using them to create concentric mounds and troughs for water capture, and into our experiments making biochar, a carbon-rich soil amendment. They also remained as they were delivered, piled high as a monument to natural decomposition, inviting the return of insects and microbes, bringing new life—and beauty—to our industrial landscape.
Do you have any questions? Put them in the comments and check out the introduction to Moving Mountains, and our posts on lead remediation and our water capture systems to learn more about our work.
