From Michele Kaufmann, and in front of a City Hall near you, the MK Lotus House
So much work! Last week we had to dwell on design. Today Barney's opens and then poof! it's all about Build Smart. Live Well at the West Coast Green Residential Building Conference + Expo at The Bill Graham 9/20 to 9/22. And across from City Hall, there's Michele Kaufmann's Lotus modular home:...this beautiful, healthy home is a peaceful oasis that collaborates with the land. This home offers the latest high-performance systems and sustainable materials and methods, which dramatically reduces its impact on the environment, as well as your energy bills. This home is built utilizing off-site modular technology.OK! For us the highlight will be a panel with (among others) David Eisenberg the co-author of the Straw Bale House, from DCAT, the Development Center for Appropriate Technology, and Eugene Tsui, the cult-figure architect best known for building the Fish House in Berkeley (the house, not the restaurant) and his planned addition for the Flintstone House in Burlingame. The topic: How to Get Unusual Plans Approved.
And speaking of approvals, Sunset Magazine has been silent as a tomb about the much-delayed opening of their San Francisco Idea House. The big idea we're coming away with is that yes, it's hard to build in San Francisco. Very encouraging article on growing one's own lettuce. San Francisco's got a better climate for growing lettuce than building houses. And it's not a bad place for chickens either, but more about them later.
· West Coast Green Residential Building Conference + Expo [West Coast Green]
· Development Center for Appropriate Technology [DCAT]
· Tsui Design + Research [Tdrinc]
· Eugene Tsui: Eco-concious and Outrageous [SF Gate]
· Yabba Dabba Doo: The Next Generation [Curbed SF]
· Grow Your Own Greens [Sunset]