Katrina says: “Less is More”

October 8, 2007 in Architecture, Design, Future, New Orleans Principles, sustainability, urbanism

The minimal Katrina cottages are appealing to many that weren’t the target demographic at all. Many are discovering that they don’t want a McMansion, or anything even close to it, and are very happy to have something that is small, well designed and not too expensive to heat, and capable of fitting on a [...]

The Green Lever of Trademarks

September 25, 2007 in Architecture, Intellectual Property, Media, Sideways Adjectives, sustainability

The United States Green Building Council’s green building rating system (LEED-Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has driven the development of many sustainable building products, increased awareness of what needs to be done to make buildings less damaging to the environment, and caused thousands of buildings to be built to better environmental standards than [...]

Old Buildings, Healthy Buildings, Sustainable Buildings

April 2, 2007 in Architecture, Design, Finally, Public Health, sustainability, unplugged

An interesting paper confirms what many concerned with building design have long suspected, but which had lacked (to some degree) empirical support: that older buildings, built according to traditional building practices are healthier than modern buildings built to ’state of the art’ newer standards. In other words, those old foggies that used drafting boards, and [...]