So What is Biophilic Design? Biophilic design expresses our love of life (biophilia) in our homes and work spaces for greater well-being. It’s never been more relevant, nor more desirable, than now. We feel good in nature and many architects and designers started taking note that growing stress and mental illness in modern society may […]
Nature Feng Shui
Creating a Feng Shui Garden: Earth Element
Incorporating the 5 natural elements into a garden space is natural – especially the Earth element. Earth is represented by soil, rocks, and stone; materials of terra cotta and pottery. Earth colors are the colors of of yellow, and the colors of soil from sandy beiges to orangey clays and muddy browns. Other ways […]
That Wabi-Sabi Feeling…
You know "wabi-sabi", right? Well, put it this way, the stuff that you created in elementary school could be considered wabi-sabi. "Imperfect, impermanent and incomplete" is what wikipedia says about wabi-sabi. In kindergarten for Mother's Day I made my mom a "paper holder" out of two paper plates with glued on pasta shells that […]
Wind and Water
The literal translation of Feng Shui is "wind and water". These two elements of nature had a tremendous impact on the survival of ancient people. Even now, as we act as if we've conquered the natural world, we've observed the horrors of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis. These natural forces prove to have the […]
Green Home Building
Architect and colleague of mine, Anthony Musso, is currently working on a new green home building project in Roslyn called Flower Hill. It's a "net zero" energy project, meaning that this home will have zero energy consumption and zero carbon emissions. It's a beautiful, self-sufficient home. Based in Cold Spring Harbor, Tony and his […]
What’s up with Green Walls?
Green walls are sometimes more than walls made from recycled content or a more sustainable material. The kind of "green" that I mean here is a wall covered with greenery, aka plant life. Green roofs have been around for a few decades, but green walls are a newer invention. Systems for green walls incorporate […]