eco-chic design

for a green mobile life-style

As a big fan of well-designed small spaces with a low environmental impact I’ve always liked Sustain Design Studio’s miniHome series designed by Andy Thomson. Especially since I always thought that they make the perfect green get-away if you live in the city. His intention was to create a sustainable home or retreat to promote a simpler life through sustainable living yet there’s nothing basic about them.

At first glance the miniHome series is a contemporary approach to an RV since the award-winning miniHome SOLO for example comes on wheels. But once on location it’ll look just like site-built architecture. The latest addition to the miniHome models is the 12X36 TRIO that features climate-specific design for optimized passive cooling and ventilation. It has 10-foot ceilings and a larger master bedroom than other 12WIDE models but comes with the same sustainable features like other miniHome models to allow for off-grid living through their connection to renewable power sources like solar (photovoltaic) and wind. Super-efficient light fixtures and appliances support the low-energy consumption. You would still need to be connected to a water supply and a wastewater treatment system but overall it sounds pretty self reliant to me. Other eco-friendly building materials include FSC certified and formaldehyde-free wood with no toxic adhesives or finishes. I’ve to say that sustainable small space living never looked smarter.

a bold statement about sustainable prefab

Daniel Libeskind’s latest prefab The Villa has many cutting-edge angles when it comes to design and sustainability. It’s designed in such a way that light floods into the home through its large floor-to-ceiling-windows in unexpected ways and looks stunning from the outside. Libeskind calls The Villa the most sustainable house of the world in a video on his website. He mentions that it has the highest sustainability components in the world in regards to insulation, geothermal power and solar energy. The Villa is largely constructed in wood and clad in zinc. It has been getting mixed reviews in regards to sustainability, but to me it’s a symbolic statement about the future of green design. Of course the design of The Villa by Libeskind puts style over sustainability in terms of scale with its 5,500 square feet. It entails a grand central room, 4 bedrooms, a family room, multiple bath and restrooms, office and multi-purpose rooms in the basement. No doubt that The Villa questions the traditional definition of prefab, since it’s neither affordable for mass production nor economic in terms of scale. But it also calls attention to creative options that are out there for eco-modern prefab homes and I consider it more of a sculpture about sustainable design. Do I think that every sustainable prefab home needs a rain shower that rises 4 meters above the ground and provides the perfect mix of water, mist, light and fragrance? Certainly not. Does it sound amazing? Absolutely.

lounge in eco-modern style

With the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York coming up I’m in the process of shortlisting my favorite green designers to make sure I stop by. On top of my list is award-winning Filipino designer Kenneth Cobonpue. I love how effortlessly he combines traditional Eastern craftsmanship with modern Western design. His incredibly poetic yet modern pieces of furniture seem to have a soul.

Kenneth Cobonpue uses sustainable resources like bamboo, rattan and abaca and turns them into sculpture like designs with his team of highly skilled basket weavers in the Philippines. They masterfully weave rattan into patterns inspired by ship designs like in the Lolah collection. It’s made out of rattan poles and strips that are fastened together with nails and nylon wire in a technique similar to boatbuilding. The results are stunning flowing shapes that make you want to spend all day in there. Or they simply arrange Rattan in the most compelling way in the Chiquita stool where 350 pieces of natural rattan poles sit on top of a polyurethane cushion inside a molded steel base. You can use them as small side tables or stools. One of my favorite green architects Michelle Kaufman started integrating Kenneth Cobonpue’s furniture into some of her houses. It doesn’t get better than that. She also launched her new book “prefab green” this year, which seems like the perfect companion while lounging in green style.

green for all seasons

Sad about the summer being gone I was glad to discover this garden hut by Eightyseven at Sant Miquel de Cruilles in Spain. The London based architecture studio received an award for emerging architecture in 2004 for the design.

I love how the walls slide and fold back to reveal a gazebo during the summer, that can be used as a storage room during the winter. The outside walls are made of rusted steel to blend in with the surroundings. Its interior walls come from Brazilian timber sourced from a certified sustainable forest. Local craftsmanship was used to prefabricate the metal and install the woodwork to reduce the impact of transportation. It’s great to see how environmental responsibility can unfold on so many different levels.

cold air just got cooler

Over the weekend I rediscovered how great ceiling fans instead of air conditioners are while visiting a friend’s weekend home in Long Island. Not only are they more energy-efficient, but the breeze they generate feels better too. 

Most traditional ceiling fans look dated or have poorly designed gadgets like lights that make them look old-fashioned. I was delighted to discover Ron Rezek’s Cirrus Ceiling Fan created in 1999, which received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star rating for energy efficiency. It’s perfect for lofts or other high ceilings. Then there’s the Cirrus Hugger, which is more compact for lower ceilings. They are about 50% more efficient than standard models and impress with their sleek design. Both models come in aluminum or glossy white and are available through The Modern Fan Company and Design Within Reach.

modern eco-dream houses

I’ve been a huge fan of Michelle Kaufmann’s architecture for a while, but I’ve always felt intimidated to write about her since there are so many innovative features that make her homes eco-friendly.  

Her design process is based on 5 ecoprinciples: smart design, eco-materials, energy efficiency, water conservation and healthy environment. She started her company in 2002 with the goal to build sustainable, well-designed homes that are affordable as well. Her company offers several prefab homes that include the Glidehouse™, Sunset Breezehouse™, mkLotus™, and mkSolaire™. Every home includes a sustainable floor plan, energy efficient lighting design and building systems as well as eco-friendly materials and finishes like bamboo or reclaimed wood flooring. Each home is solar ready. I also love that Michelle Kaufmann branched out into designing products like her modern and sustainable lighting vessel that doubles as a vase.

organic gets supersized

These organic seating sculptures are designed by Eva Sobesky from EIS Studio where landscaping is an integral part of the design process. I love how these giant pebbles play with the scale of a space yet perfectly fit into any outdoor or indoor environment.

Eva founded her company in 2002 after 12 years of working at Frank Gehry & Associates. Her pebbles seem to draw inspiration from his sculptural take on architecture and her love for nature. More specifically these pebbles are inspired by washed pebbles in a riverbed. They are sculptural yet practical and most importantly green thanks to their production process. The architect Michele Kaufmann describes how the waste of plywood is reduced by the fact that the pebble comes in 3 different sizes (S,M,L) and each smaller size is made from the leftover uncut inner plywood of the bigger size. This maximizes the use of plywood and reduces its waste. The result is smart, green design and incredibly cool.

the perfect fit

I can’t wait until the opening of the new Muji store at the midtown headquarters of The New York Times building in spring 2008, since it’s only 3 blocks away from my office. You’ll know where to find me pretty soon during my lunch hour looking for their aluminum business card cases or environmentally friendly cardboard speakers.

Muji couldn’t have picked a better location than the light and transparent architecture of the new environmentally advanced NYT building designed by Renzo Piano. The design of their products is beautifully reflected in the clean architecture of the building with its energy-efficient features. The name Muji comes from the Japanese phrase “Mujirushi Ryohin”, which roughly translates to "no brand, quality goods.” The no-frills products are minimal yet very functional with the environment in mind. The company has been reducing waste for example through limiting production materials and packaging.

hatching new ideas

Since I work as a creative in advertising I stumbled upon the amazing sculptures of Patrick Dougherty through his bird nest installation for the ad agency Wieden & Kennedy in Portland. 

Patrick is an internationally acclaimed sculptor known for his large-scale installations that incorporate tree saplings. He twists and wraps his medium to create large, organic sculptures. Most of his art looks rather “found” than made as if nature had effected the objects.

His company stickworks created the meeting space in collaboration with the interior design firm, Intelligent Design. He crafted the nest out of sticks, willow saplings, and interwoven alder. It has a beautiful interplay of feeling organic and modern yet whimsical. It’s a perfect example to show how he combines his carpentry skills with a love for nature.

I mean, what better way is there to hatch out ideas than in an over-sized bird nest? During the last two decades, Patrick has built over 150 works throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

prefab can be fabulous

One of my all-time favorite architectural buildings is Frank Lloyd Wright’s building Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. It’s the perfect example how architecture can live in harmony with nature. For the same reason I love a lot of the new mid-century inspired architecture.

Marmol Radziner Prefab is a company based in Los Angeles that offers the clean lines of mid-century design in combination with the efficiency of factory-built homes. Their floor-to-ceiling windows capture natural light, while expansive decks promote indoor/outdoor living.

The company builds the prefab modules in their own factory and ships them complete with your choice of pre-installed interior and exterior finishes, flooring, appliances, and more. This prefabrication process and the importance of in-house construction helps to reduce waste and increase efficiency. These prefab homes are created with the environment in mind and have achieved LEED certification. For long-term sustainability, the module structures are made from recycled steel. The homes employ other green materials like solar panels for example.

But most of all I love that this approach to modern green architecture stays sensitive to the environment without sacrificing the modernist aesthetic.