According to a recent post on the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy's Wright Chat discussion board, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Boulter House (1956) in Cincinnati, OH is seeking LEED Certification and will be hosting two events associated with that endeavor. Learn more here.
Boulter House illustration and 3D-model by Brayden McLaughlin and Greg Algie
Karlitos E. sent a link to a fascinating house design by David Hertz Architects, Inc. that is constructed with components and pieces of a Boeing 747-200 aircraft. Dubbed the "Wing House", it not only looks sleek but it's a cutting edge example of sustainable architecture. Read and see more here.
Image via studioea.com
With the tough time honeybees have faced lately, it seems that the busy city might be the future for the busy bee. Read the buzz at Treehugger.com about the urban future that might just save our important insect friend.
Image via treehugger.com
Green Builder Media, North America’s leading media company focused on sustainable living, recently announced the winners of its 4th Annual Green Builder Home of the Year Awards. With entries from across the nation, the judges chose ten outstanding projects displaying the best and most cutting-edge green residential building.
This year’s winning entries include designs that range from small and simple to super-efficient luxury proving that building sustainably can be done on any budget. Image Design, LLC was proud to be one of the winners of this years award for their "River Escape" project. This is the second time in the award's four year history that they have won the award (2009 GreenBuilder Home of the Year Award was for the "Vineyard" Project). Find out more here.
Image via Green Builder Media
Fastcodesign.com features a brief article about the newly-opened Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum, and how Wright's merger of architecture and its site was "green" before it was trendy. Read it here.
Image via fastcodesign.com
I came across Whether Bags a few weekends ago at Chicago's Randolph Street Antique Market and thought they looked simple, Mod and well-crafted. Turns out that what's especially great about the bags is that they are constructed from sustainable materials and each one is crafted locally in Chicago, IL (with all of the materials sourced and purchased within the USA). Check out more info here and shop online here.
Image via whetherbags.myshopify.com
Scott T. finds and shares this unique Usonian-esque home for sale in Long Eddy, NY that sports a beautiful "meadow" roof. See more images and photos here.
Image via realtor.com
A big event coming to Chicago the weekend of Oct. 15 & 16. The Chicago Architecture Foundation is hosting the inaugural openhousechicago 2011, a free public event that takes guests behind the scenes of over 100 of the city’s greatest spaces and places and illuminates areas that are normally open only “by invitation.”
Among the 100+ sites, OHC2011 will offer a special “green trail” that will feature various innovative green sites throughout the city. Highlights include Uncommon Ground, a restaurant and music venue that serves produce grown in its own organic rooftop farm, and Christy Webber Landscape Designs, known for their impressive plantings in Millennium Park. Both sites are LEED Platinum buildings. Get all the details for this exciting event here.
Image via caf.architecture.org
World Water Week, which highlights the issues surrounding our most precious natural global resource, is happening in Stockholm, Sweden August 21-27, 2011. In order to help raise awareness, there was recently a "Water is Life" poster competition that called students and young artists to action through artistic interpretation. The posters are now part of a traveling exhibition currently stopped at Duravit's own headquarters in the Black Forest of Germany, where it will remain until September 10th. See and learn more about the posters after the jump...
Unity Temple Restoration Foundation is planning a special in-depth & behind-the-scenes tour of the tunnels beneath Unity Temple and how the proposed geothremal HVAC system will work. More info after the jump...
With all the challenges facing this country, stirring the pot over energy efficient standards for light bulbs seems pretty low on the list. However, the phasing out of traditional incandescent bulbs controversy has been a heated topic recently. Luckily, Gregory Karp of the Chicago Tribune sheds some light on some of the complaints and mis-information dimming the issue. Read it here.
Image via sustainableken.com
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is working with Big Green Zero, a team of energy engineers and planners, to launch Energizing Taliesin West™, a pioneering integration of sustainable energy and sustainable architecture. The Energizing Taliesin West™ program will both transform Taliesin West into a sustainable energy laboratory and advance the Frank Lloyd Wright legacy of sustainable architecture as the property celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2012. Read more after the jump...
Mark Hertzberg sends a link to an article discussing the recent awarding of Gold LEED certification to SC Johnson's Fortaleza Hall, designed by Foster + Partners. Read more here.
Iamge via worldarchitecturenews.com
The next time you send something via snail mail (and admit it, in this technologically wonderous age, it's a treat to occasionally get hand-written communication), consider using the new Go Green stamps for postage. The US Postal Service recently issued the series "to raise awareness of simple actions each of us can take to conserve natural resources and promote the health of our environment." We couldn't agree more with their message!
Image copyright US Postal Service
Past meets future as the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago unveils its 2011 Smart Home: Green + Wired on Earth Day, April 22, 2011 and runs through Jan. 8, 2012. This year’s exhibit has a completely new look with the help of two new partners—Chicago interior furnishing store Scout and technology blog Gizmodo. Catch all the details here.
Image via MSIChicago website
Today is Earth Day, a time to reflect on our home planet and how to be better stewards of it. In an effort not to be gloom and doom about environmentalism, here's a link to a recent NOVA special called "Power Surge" which discusses the ways our own creativity and technology could help save us from ourselves. See it here.
Image via PBS.org
Here's a link to an article about restoration architect, John Eifler's amazing work saving the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ross House in Glencoe, IL. The house had extensive damage due to burst pipes and it was a potential tear down. John not only saved it, he designed energy and water-saving aspects into the restoration to make the house 'better than new." Read it here.
Image by Allison Williams
Two of the nation's top 10 green buildings are in Wisconsin. One is close to a Wright building (the OS House in Racine) and the other is connected to a Wright building (the new addition to Wright's First Unitarian Society Meeting House in Madison). Read more about it here.
Image via jsonline.com
Mark Hertzberg sent a link to a very interesting article about Henry Gifford and Gifford Fuel Saving Inc. class action lawsuit challenging the LEED building rating system, which is supposed to provide a comprehensive system for incorporating sustainability in buildings. Gifford, however, thinks the system has deceived consumers and others by misrepresenting the benefits of LEED certification relating to energy efficiency and savings and attributes of the LEED rating system. So, is LEED misleading people? Read more about it here.
Image via buildinggreen.com
This is the question posed by Benjamin Genocchio in an article for ArtInfo after viewing the current Wright exhibit at the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Read his pros and cons on Wright as sustainable architect here.
Image via artinfo.com
PrairieMod reader, Cheryl, sent a link to a great post about the use of "first-growth" lumber—specifically in Sears Homes—and how preserving these structures helps to conserve this valuable material from by-gone resources. Read more here.
Image via searshomes.org
Here's a link to an article about Joshua Huskins, a 27-year old woodworker that hails from Augusta, Ga., but came to Illinois' Fox Valley for a six-month job installing reclaimed pine wood flooring in a St. Charles mansion. He relocated three years ago and runs Amberwood Reclaimed Lumbers, a company that specializes in custom woodworking for homes by using reclaimed lumber from old barns, buildings and homes. Check out the article here and Joshua's website here.
Image via Amberwood Reclaimed Lumbers
PrairieMod reader Eric S. sent a link to SUSTAINhouse's website, a company that designs eco-minded homes. Architect Johanna Barrett sums up the goal of SUSTAINhouse this way: "I believe that design can accomplish something much higher than meeting the basic human need for shelter. Through design we can awaken the human spirit. The majority of people’s lives are spent inside a built environment of some sort. By paying attention to what that environment is we can either positively or negatively impact the person who inhabits it." Find out more details and see the designs here.
Image via SUSTAINhouse website
Chicago Tribune architecture critic, Blair Kamin, provides detailed insight into the new plan by Park district officials to transform Northerly Island (formally Meigs Field) into the "Millennium Park of Nature." Will it be Mayor Daley's triumphant swan song or the victim of political infighting? Read all about it here.
Sometimes doing the right thing has its own hazards - the New York Times reports that lead has been detected in some reusable bags made in China.
Image copyright Hiroko Masuike for the New York Times
Image Design, LLC let us know about one of their latest projects under construction called the "Turtle Lake" project. It's a projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" Prairie Style Home in Beulah, Michigan on turtle Lake. You can read about the construction process here.
Image via Image Design, LLC
Brittlebush is an amazing new student shelter by Taliesin School of Architecture graduate, Simon de Aguero. Made of rammed-earth walls and recycled steel, it's an excellent expression of the Organic Principles espoused by Frank Lloyd Wright. Check out more here and look for a PrairieMod featured interview about Brittlebush soon!
Image by Simon de Aguero
Via MocoLoco, here's a look at a beautiful floating garden planter inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e art and ideas. It also makes use of vertisol. This special soil developed by Vertilab is a mixture of an organic and a non-organic component to enhance the plant's time span. See more here.
Image via MocoLoco
Here's a link to an article about the "greenprint" that Prairie School landscape architect, Jens Jensen, left on Chicago. Read more here.
Image via the Chicago Tribune
We received word from PrairieMod reader Mark H. that the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture’s Taliesin Mod.Fab was awarded Valley Forward Association’s first-place Crescordia Award for Environmental Excellence in the Buildings and Structures — Residential category. The award sets a standard for achieving a balance between the built and natural environment in the region’s physical, technical, social and aesthetic development. Congratulations Taliesin! For more info on this Fab little building, follow the link.
PrairieMod reader, Paul R., sent some great links to sustainable building events around the Chicagoland area. More details after the jump...
PrairieMod reader Karlitos sent us a link to an interesting recycled building material called Emium that appears to resemble clear Lego bricks. Check it out here.
Image via emium.com
Check out these amazing recycled cardboard cacti creations made by designer David Stark. See them here.
Image via Inhabitat
PrairieMod reader, Paul R., sent me a link to an article discussing Michelle Kaufmann's new foray into Net-Zero pre-fab home designs. Read more about it here.
Image copyright Michelle Kaufman Studio
I'm really digging UK designer James Howlett's smart and fun take on furniture, as embodied in his ReStyle Multifunctional Modular Furniture. Check it out here.
Image via jameshowlett.co.uk
D Light Design has recently won the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy for it's low-cost solar lantern, which was developed specifically to rid dependence in sub-Saharan Africa on kerosene lamps. Read more here.
Image via D Light Design
Here's some video and lots of great images on the rehabbing of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ross House in Glencoe, IL that appeared on the WTTW program, Chicago Tonight. See it here.
Image via Chicago Tonight weblog
A PrairieMod reader sent me this great link to a very Mod DIY birdhouse project that I think might be a must-build for the "Little Red House". See it here.
Image via 2greenthumbsup.com
Composting usually brings to mind images of big bins of smelly food scraps and grass clippings taking up space in a corner of your yard. Well, NatureMill is a hi-tech way to produce garden-rich compost right in your kitchen with none of the smell or hassle. Find out more here.
Image via NatureMill
Still think increasing oil drilling off our coasts is a good idea? A Jamaica-sized oil slick (and growing) in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens wildlife, the fishing industry and the health of the area's residents says otherwise. An ecological disaster of this magnitude will hopefully spark a firm resolve to finally get our country on a clean, renewable energy fast track. In the meantime, you can get "slick and tired" of this horrible mess here.
Image via BBC News
Reuse those old light bulbs and make some terrariums. Check out the link here.
Image copyright Instructables
Manitoga, Russel Wright’s National Historic Landmark home, studio and woodland garden, will celebrate re-installation of the iconic designer’s green roof on April 17. Thanks to a federal Save America’s Treasures grant, paired with NYS funding sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, Senator Vincent Leibell, New York State Council on the Arts, the David L. Klein, Jr. Family Foundation and other private sources, and a major in-kind donation from Kemper System Inc, the historic “green roof” on the 20th century industrial designer’s Landmark home has been fully restored. Read more after the jump...
Here's a link to an article about the unfortunate demise of Michelle Kaufmann's pre fab housing company. She was riding high when we toured her beautiful "Smart Home" at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago a few years ago, but the economic downturn and the inability to get costs where they need to be has kept these homes on the drawing board and as an exhibit. Read about it here.
An interesting side note: The only other model home to be built on the grounds of the MSI was a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian Automatic (another pre fab house design that never took off) that toured the country in the 1980s. Read about it here and here.
Image via the MSI website & sterinerag.com
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