Shotgun shack redux: mortgage-free in 320 square feet by Kirsten Dirksen on May 30, 2011 Two years ago, Debra and her family lived in a nearly 2000 square foot home on an acre and a half …
Rear Window living: density + small homes = crossed glances by Kirsten Dirksen on May 2, 2011 Charged with designing an apartment complex to house 111 low-income families in small spaces, architects Eva Prats and Ricardo Flores decided to …
Lego-style apartment transforms into infinite spaces by Kirsten Dirksen on April 25, 2011 When Christian Schallert isn’t cooking, dressing, sleeping or eating, his 24 square meter (258 square feet) apartment is an empty cube. To use …
Transforming a tiny apartment for a growing family (kid #2) by Kirsten Dirksen on April 11, 2011 Marta Barceló lives in a 47 square meter (505 sq ft) apartment in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. She first moved in with …
Versatile passive house to balance live/work, urban/country by Kirsten Dirksen on March 21, 2011 As an architect passionate about passive solar and urban live/work design, Alan Cohen got tired of waiting for a client …
Maintenance secrets of a 2.5-acre, native plants living roof by Kirsten Dirksen on January 27, 2011 It’s one of the most expansive and one of the most complex living roofs ever designed- the 197,000-square-foot rooftop is …
Is Renzo Piano’s Academy of Sciences the greenest museum? by Kirsten Dirksen on January 24, 2011 The purpose of the California Academy of Sciences is to study the earth and science. It’s also located in one …
Barcelona’s Sagrada Família: Gaudí’s monument to Nature by Kirsten Dirksen on December 18, 2010 He became one of the most famous Modernist architects- responsible for many of Barcelona’s most famous monuments-, but Antoni Gaudí …
Non-toxic, no-VOC paint for any wall (+ finishing plasters) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Michael G. Smith has spent the past couple of decades using natural materials to build all parts of a home, …
Avoid VOC: homemade natural paint (clay and milk) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Paints are one of the biggest sources of VOCs- Volatile Organic Compounds- inside the home and their synthetic ingredients have …