I just learned that Christopher Alexander, the principal writer and force behind A Pattern Language, died on March 17. This is to remember him, someone who made me see with a new focus. A Pattern Language of Work earlier version … [Read more...]
Toward Net Zero Energy: Tiny Houses on Up
The Laney College Carpentry Department in Oakland, California built a net zero tiny house, the Wedge, in 2016 for the SMUD Net Zero Tiny House Competition https://youtu.be/PyxJQynaC_c That tiny house is for sale … [Read more...]
City Agriculture – April 21, 2017
An apartment filled with plants http://modernfarmer.com/2016/07/summer-rayne-oakes/ Daytonian in Manhattan - "The stories behind the buildings, statues and other points of interest that make Manhattan fascinating.” Can’t have a viable … [Read more...]
City Agriculture – December 24, 2015 – Happy Merry New and Bah Humbug Edition
Homefarm - a conceptual proposal for the next generation of urban retirement housing. It presents a living and farming typology for Singapore (or elsewhere) that combines apartments and facilities for seniors with vertical urban … [Read more...]
Urban Agriculture
Here's the text of a presentation I did March 4, 2015 at Northeast Sustainable Energy Association's Building Energy conference in Boston, MA. This was the first time the conference addressed urban agriculture. Everybody eats and it's … [Read more...]
Cities Scale: Boston Living with Water
Cities scale is where real climate change adaptation is taking place, now, whether or not we have national or international agreements on greenhouse gases. Cities and regions have to deal with weather emergencies and, it turns out, … [Read more...]
Reprogramming the City
There's a great exhibition at the Boston Society of Architects down by South Station called "Reprogramming the City" (http://bsaspace.org/exhibitions/reprogramming-the-city/). It is all about small but significant design tweaks for urban … [Read more...]