Getting Green

From the Green Building Council Website: "The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria."

I've passed the LEED exam and am now a LEED Accredited Professional.

However, before I become another vocal advocate of the green revolution, I must admit there is a part of me that is skeptical of 'Green.' The heavy emphasis that 'Green Building' has been getting in the world of design is a great boost to architecture, but also a minor curse. Green is great, but it is not all architecture is. Making a building energy efficient doesn't necessarily make it a great building. Architecture is more than the engineering that goes into it. Designing a building to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly is a great leap forward; but it is not the whole of architecture. Making a building that is just efficient is good engineering. Combined with good architecture, it can produce a great building. Lets not forget the Architecture in the rush to Green.

Islamic Cultural Center - Behar

For the curious among you, here are some renderings of the ICC Behar mosque that I've been working on. It's an entirely concrete structure, complete with a concrete dome and minarets. The design team was invited to a fund raiser dinner, where I was asked to speak to a crowd of a few hundred about the design. I'm not one to shy away from public speaking, but trying to explain a fairly high concept architectural design through a translator was an interesting experience. You have to slow down and space your sentences into easily translated blocks. Explaining the magnificent mathematical perfection and historical references of a parabolic arch through a Bosnian translator; Forget about it.

I've often heard that in Europe architecture as a profession is given a great deal more respect than it gets in the United States. It certainly is the case with this Bosnian Islamic congregation. I've worked with some very grateful and pleased clients before; but the ICC Behar are wonderfully grateful and gracious clients who display an amazing heartfelt gratitude for all the work we've done for them. I wonder if part of that is rooted in the more European view of the profession of architecture.

Update

Just a quick post for my curious readers. The work has been pouring in over at Dixon Architecture. I'm Currently working on a vet clinic, recently finished a mosque, have multiple manufacturing and office facilities on the boards, and a few new LEED 'Green Building' projects just starting up. Looks like my next professional hoop to jump through is LEED Certification from the folks over at http://www.usgbc.org/.

I'll post renderings of some of my recent work later, at least for the stuff thats public. Once the 'veil of secrecy' on some projects in the early stages becomes solid and the contracts are signed, I'll have more to post.

Grand Haven Cottage

I recently completed a cottage design for a dune lot in Grand Haven overlooking Lake Michigan. The lot is up for sale and listed at GRAR.COM

The site has an incredible amount of slope to it, and is regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality as a protected dune site, which limits the area in which you can build. Therefore the design keeps as small a footprint as possible.