It took way too long, finding the processing limits of my MacBook, and solving an upload issue with my video hosting provider, but we have it: video of Steve Glenn’s recent talk at DWR.

On a drizzly Thursday night — nothing compared to what we’ve had for the last few days, mind you — over 35 architects, designers and design fans gathered amongst the modern furniture to hear what the LivingHomes founder and CEO had to say about starting his development firm.

For the sake of digestibility, I’ve broken the hour-plus video into six segments:

Steve started discussing development, his inspiration to get into the industry, and the importance of having a greater social good behind your business.

Next he talked about his buildings, the architects that have designed them (Ray Kappe and KieranTimberlake), the benefits of prefabrication — with cool videos of two LivingHomes houses being built in a matter of hours — and the importance of good design in environmentally-friendly home design.

Third, he discussed the importance of building the most environmentally-friendly building possible, and LivingHomes’ efforts to do so.

Beyond what the homes are made with and how they’re constructed, LivingHomes also helps homeowners be more responsible.

After that, Steve opened the talk up to questions, and boy did the architects in attendance have them!

In all, a very engaging conversation by a pioneer in the green home movement. I look forward to the day when a LEED-certified home is the standard, and not the exception. People like Steve Glenn are working to make that a reality.

Also, a big thanks to DWR for allowing me to set up front and center to film this!

In last Sunday’s Boston Globe, Dushko Petrovich explored how Boston could find itself as the home of a new art revolution. In his essay, Dushko cites all that Boston has going for it: “several great museums, a superabundance of universities, many galleries, a highly educated and increasingly sophisticated audience, and a density that allows for the most important element in cultural life: interaction between creative people.” Dushko makes a pretty convincing job that this revolution is right around the corner, and he’s right. Kind of.

Kind of, because it’s not an art revolution that’s coming, but a design one. It’s been brewing for a while.

In 2006, the public was just starting to educate itself on design. ApartmentTherapy, DesignSponge, sfgirlbybay and others were showcasing creations coming out of New York and San Francisco. Boston had a large, energetic design scene, but people outside of the city thought it was a quaint, stodgy old town, not giving it the attention it deserved. I started DesignBoston to help get that conversation going. Three and a half years later — whether its architecture, interior-, product-, graphic deisgn or more — if you’re offering unique, thoughtful, innovative creations, we want to share it.

A year later, the Design Industry Group of Massachusetts (DIGMA) was formed as “an initiative of the statewide design industries to organize and promote the Massachusetts design cluster as integral to the state’s economy. ” DIGMA unites the various design industries and promotes them to business, government, and the public. In the most recent Boston Home Magazine, DIGMA director Beate Becker shared an interesting fact:

Our impressive numbers may surprise people who think the city is strictly a science and technology powerhouse; in fact, more than 45,000 people work in design-related jobs in Massachusetts, from architecture and advertising to product design for New Balance and Reebok. Boston-area companies actually support the second-largest industrial-design population in the country, behind San Francisco.

The same year, the pinkcomma gallery opened. The introduction on pinkcomma’s website says it all:

This gallery aims to foster and recognize a more creative and experimental scene that has grown out of one of the world’s most significant capitals of architectural education. For all the city’s stodginess, Boston’s six architecture schools and their instructors have unleashed some of the most provocative figures on the world scene.

Through exhibits like “Rethinking City Hall” and “Heroic“, directors Chris Grimley and Mark Pasnik ask us to reconsider our built spaces. The upcoming Design Biennial Boston will “showcase emerging design voices through an exhibition and publication of innovative professional design works.”

This year, Design Museum Boston was formed to “educate the public on the role of design in their lives and the contributions of design within the creative economy.” It’s planned network of physical — galleries, storefronts and malls — and online exhibits will expose audiences “to the design process from a social, economic, and environmental point of view.”

Whether you’re a creative professional or not, design shapes your world. Look around, and you’ll see a world full of buildings, graphics, products and experiences that were all originally visualized by designers. The clothes you wear, the car you drive, the building you work in, even your favorite website; all are the products of designers’ efforts. Each is more usable and inspiring because of designers’ involvement.

DIGMA, Design Museum Boston, pinkcomma gallery, and DesignBoston are trying to achieve the same thing, but from different angles: DIGMA from an institutional level; DesignMuseumBoston in our places of commerce; pinkcomma gallery from the (literally and figuratively) underground, and DesignBoston from a grassroots level.

These are of course just four examples of the connectors bringing attention to the design industry around Boston, and throughout Massachusetts. As more connections are made, as newer, evermore innovative work gets produced, and as more people — in Boston and beyond — recognize the contributions of Boston’s design industry, Boston will truly be a hub of design.

We’ve learned about a lot of great events focusing on green design lately around the city recently, and just learned about one more.

CBT Architects – whose office is a beacon in a sea of sports bars across from the TD Bank Garden – is hosting CBT Green Day 2010. The name is a bit of a misnomer, as it’s actually spread across two days: this afternoon, and tomorrow morning.

Today is”Into The Light” a panel on sustainable light performance, with a case study of the AI Tech Center in Hartford, CT. From 3:30pm to 4:30pm, panelists will display, demonstrate and answer questions about their green technology and products. Panelists will include:

David Hancock, CBT
Richard Wilson, Nysan Shading Systems
Avi Bar, Advanced Glazing / Solera
Paul Zaferiou, LAM Partners
Bill Hurwitz, Lutron
Steve Moran, Genzyme

Tomorrow morning is the Vendor Show, where 30 vendors will display their green products and services for review. “This year’s tradeshow will focus on vendors offering local products. It is also an opportunity for attendees to earn AIA continuing education credits. We are opening the event to the greater AEC community and will accept a limited number of outside attendees.”

Participating vendors include:

Alteris Renewables
Armstrong Ceilings
David Gooding, Inc.
Dooge Veneers
Duraamen Engineered Products & Vexcon Chemicals (both with Madstone Concrete)
The Eagleson Group
Eco-Chic Solutions
EcoUrban Kitchens
Fletcher Granite
Gavin Associates
The Green Cocoon
Guardian Glass
Kingston Block
Knoll (with Peabody Office Furniture)
LightBlocks
National Gypsum
Nexus / Green Roundtable
North Shore Floor Systems
Northeast Air Solutions
OmniLite
Pharos Project
Planet ReUse
Specification Sales
Stone Source
Tate Access Floors
Thos. Moser
ToMarket
Trikeenan Tiles
USG Corporation
Yusen/Vanguard Lighting

I’m going to try and make it to this afternoon’s panel, and possibly the vendor show tomorrow. See you there?

CBT Architects
110 Canal Street
Boston, MA 02114

It often feels like design-minded people — you and me — have opposing values: We’re among the loudest voices calling for more environmentally-friendly buildings, but at the same time, we want well-crafted, comfortable, designed homes.

DWR on Tremont Street has called in a professional to help us with this dilemma. Steve Glenn, founder and CEO of the green development firm Living Homes will present “High Design, Low Impact: Building LivingHomes”.

The developer of the nation’s first LEED Platinum home, and with over nine LivingHomes in development that are designed to achieve LEED Platinum, Glenn is one of the more experienced builders of environmentally conscious homes in the United States. While LivingHomes uses the LEED program for external review and validation, the company has established its own Z6 sustainable building goals, which serve as development objectives for each LivingHome, insuring that they have as close as possible to zero negative impact on health and environment. The Z6 goals are Zero Water, Zero Energy, Zero Waste, Zero Emissions, Zero Carbon and Zero Ignorance.

Glenn will share his experiences working with leading architects, including Ray Kappe, FAIA, one the most celebrated modern architects in the US, and KieranTimberlake, the AIA 2009 Firm of the Year, to create LivingHomes. He will discuss the specific elements that go into a LivingHome to achieve the Z6 goals and the process of building a LivingHome – from its factory construction to on-site installation in mere hours. Attendees will gain new insights into sustainable design and prefabrication, and will be able to get any questions answered about building a LivingHome.

“High Design, Low Impact” will be this Thursday, March 4, starting at 6:30. Planning on attending? Please RSVP.

DWR Boston Studio
519 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-451-7801

(photo via)

…but it’s for a good reason!

When I should have been writing about the great designers I’m coming across, I’ve been working with Joyce — not just a blogger but also a freelance photographer and graphic designer — on designing and programming a new DesignBoston.org.

The basic layout is all set, but there’s still much to be done. We’re hoping to be finished in the next few days. When that happens, the site will be unavailable for a short time while we make the switchover.

In the meantime, I’ll be sure to post as often as I can.

Thanks for your patience!

(Yes, I was dared to put this old school .gif up. )

Another interesting duo that I met at SHIFTboston are Derek Cascio and Sam Aquillano. They are creating the Design Museum Boston, where they will share all types of design – architecture, furniture, product design, graphic design and more.

The approach Derak and Sam are taking for Design Museum Boston isn’t the normal route of raising millions of dollars in funds, finding a building and curating exhibits. Instead, they will open DMB in vacant store fronts, flash store-style, in various neighborhoods. This way, they’ll be able to share design with people that may not otherwise take the opportunity to experience it.

I had a chance to talk with them briefly at SHIFTboston. They’re just starting out, and I’m hopeful that Design

Merry Christmas!

This week, at the COP15 Climate Change Conference, a group of MIT students introduced the Copenhagen Wheel, which turns any bike you already own into an “electric bike with regeneration and real-time environmental sensing capabilities.” The Copenhagen Wheel harvests energy when you brake and stores it for when you need a boost – going uphill, say.

Boston’s not the most bike-friendly city, both from a crazy driver and a theft aspect. The Copenhagen Wheel has sensors that collect data on congestion, air and noise pollution and road conditions. You can access that information via a bluetooth-enabled smart phone for readouts on-the-go.

“The Wheel also has a smart lock: if somebody tries to steal it, it goes into a mode where the brake regenerates the maximum amount of power, and sends you a text message. So in the worst case scenario the thief will have charged your batteries before you get back your bike.”

This would of course be a boon for cities like Copenhagen, who are trying to get 1/2 of all residents to commute by bike. But I expect Boston could see an increase in cyclists with a tool like the Copenhagen Wheel.

What do you think? Do you ride a bike to work? Would you be more apt to with the Copenhagen Wheel?

(via inhabitat)

ICFF 2009 was smaller than last year, surely due to the economy, but there was no shortage of imaginative, thoughtful designs.

Indeed, the amount of sustainable design at the show was greater than ever, and the pieces showed a great deal of both creativity and maturity. Below, here are 11 green designs, from floors to ceiling lights,  that I think are especially noteworthy.

Scrap Lights from Graypants Scrap Lights, designed by Seattle-based architect/designers Jonathan Junker and Seth Grizzle, aka Graypants, are made from repurposed cardboard boxes. The pieces are handmade, so their slightly irregular pattern creates playful shadows on the walls. When the Scrap Light’s lifecycle is up, it can simply be recycled into something new.

MIO Naked Cabinets MIO Naked cabinets are made with Formaldehyde free particleboard made from independently certified 100% pre-consumer recycled wood fibers. It’s then assembled, but not painted, turning what is normally thrown away into an aesthetic statement.

Greenplay Greenplay is a modular play system made from “recycled, renewable, and low-impact materials”. They’re painted in low- or no-VOC paints, meaning they’re safe for both your kids and the planet. Which is the point of all this, isn’t it?

Izm There are no recycled or recovered materials for Izm’s Visualizm AV unit. Jerad Mack and Shane Pawluk’s idea of sustainability works a bit differently. Working with the knowledge that it takes 100 years for one walnut tree to grow to maturity, they use age-old construction techniques to ensure that their furniture will be passed down from generation to generation. So when it’s ready to be replaced, that tree’s grown back.

Pieter VanTuyl There’s no chance of calling Pieter VanTuyl’s Illuminated Shelf cold. This beautifully crafted shelf, made from sustainably-harvested walnut, with it’s illuminated glass shelf, is a striking example of green modernism done right.

MissPrint Fireplaces are considered fairly environmentally unfriendly, what with the wood or gas burning. EcoSmart Fires, fueled by clean burning denatured ethanol, don’t need a flue or a connection to a utility, giving you the warmth of a fireplace and the flexibility to install it where you’d like.

Anne Kyyrö Quinn Anne Kyyrö Quinn‘s striking three-dimensional wall panels, made with 100% renewable wool felt, suggest dramatic movement and help absorb sound in a space. It’s that they are constructed with such a simplicity of design that truly shows Quinn’s talents.

Lulan Artisans Eve Blossom, Lulan Artisans‘ founder and CEO, takes a whole-Earth approach to sustainability: She and design partners Laura Guido-Clark and Michael Koch design textiles, which are then woven in Cambodia, India, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam using centuries-old techniques. These techniques help ensure each country’s culture remains intact while providing economic opportunity for them. Their new Diamond Cut line is made of 100% organic cotton, hand-woven, hand-dyed and hand-spun, and is available in six colors.

MissPrint UK-based MissPrint, the mother-daughter team of Yvonne and Rebecca Drury, produce their own lines of wallpaper. Each midcentury-inspired design is hand-drawn, touched up in Illustrator, then hand-made from PEFC-certified paper and low- or non-toxic dyes.

Iannone Design Michael Iannone uses a variety of sustainable materials, including cork, reclaimed and FSC-certified lumber, bamboo, and Kirei (Soughum board). But the materials aren’t the only thing to take notice of: His innovative styles create eye-catching pieces that would right just about any interior.

Lift soap dish by Steph Mantis What if we could make something that would let us use the ordinary, everyday things we buy last a bit longer? That, and how to make if for only a dollar were the questions Steph Mantis of Pratt Institute’s Department of Industrial Design answered with her Lift soap dish. The dish is designed to save soap by lifting the bar up off the surface. Not a huge problem, yet a very real one at the same time.

No single piece was the furthest reaching or most radical attempt as sustainable design, but taken as a whole, they reflect the wide range of options avaiable for green living.

With the continued push of designers, both large and small, into green design, I look forward to the day when “sustainable” is no longer a feature, but a standard.

If you haven’t watched TV, read a newspaper, or been on the T in the last month or so, you may be forgiven for not knowing about Puma City.

Puma City, a pop-up store currently set up on Fan Pier near the ICA, is an assemblage of 24 shipping containers. The use of shipping containers makes it perfectly suited for Puma’s involvement in the Volvo Ocean Race series, a 9-month sailing race around the world. Designed by Lot-Ek, the building can be disassembled, placed on a cargo ship,  sent to the next location and assembled again.

While the structure of the shipping containers is evident throughout, Puma City has an open, airy feel, with double-height spaces, lots of glass windows and skylights, two patios and a pretty wicked cantilever that mimics the ICA’s in a smaller scale.

Puma City bringing the idea of mixed-use down to an almost microscale. During the Volvo Ocean Race’s 3-week stay at Fan Pier, Puma City will house retail, office space, a bar, and storage. I can see spaces in Boston, like the nearby Achilles Project, begin to off multiple services in one space, for prime economic efficiency.

Shipping containers, recylced into housing (or commercial space) are an innovative approach to sustainable architecture – one that, conceivably, could be relatively inexpensive -  and one that I would love to see incorporated into Boston architectural design. In fact, a couple of my friends are investigating the feasability of shipping containers for their next home. Too bad there are almost no empty lots left in the city.