Dwell Magazine merges modern architecture with climate-friendly living in "Making Modern Green," this year's installment of the Dwell Home Invitational (link to last year's winner). All five submissions detailed in the Jan/Feb 2005 issue seek to "create a sustainable single-family home in Los Angeles" and "establish a progressive model for future housing."
Escher GuneWardena's winning design features diversely designed shading devices, from plant trellises to to movable aluminum-and-polyester screens, solar chimneys and "cool cavities" in the crawl space to manage summer heat and maximize winter sun. The house's green roof will include photovoltaics and solar water heating panels, and native plants that need little water.
It's great to see Dwell integrating future-forward sustainable design into its influential advocacy for excellent and affordable modern architecture.
Sustainability in multiple-unit dwellings is also gaining momentum. There's the Brooklyn warehouse renovated with green materials and energy conservation measures. Denver's Boutique Apartments is integrating sustainability into the company's corporate goals, striving for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification for all its properties. Green roofs are gaining attention from New York City to Atlanta to Seattle and Vancouver. And our own Dawn Danby recently posted on green latticeworks linking city streets, walls and roofs.
