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Here's an interesting and infomative interview (by NPR's On Point host Tom Ashbrook) of New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger on his latest book - Why Architecture Matters. Great American Architect Richard Meier joins in as well.

Goldberger talks about how architecture expresses our cultural identity and laments (as I do) the absence of beauty and artfulness in "ordinary buildings" constructed in America today. (Just look at utilitarian buildings constructed a hundred years ago like barns, modest homes, downtown storefronts, even power and waterworks facilities, and you'll notice a distinct attention to craft along with a respectful public face.) Seems that the social contract that once existed between builders and the public - that every building project, no matter how ordinary, takes on the responsibility of promoting the public good - has vanished as developers go for "quick and cheap."

Goldberger and Meier explain how buildings can and should express three qualities that Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius assigned architecture over two thousand years ago - firmitas (strength), utilitas (usefulness), and venustas (beauty).

Consider purchasing Paul Goldberger's book from your independent, neighborhood bookseller. Find one near you in this handy Indy Directory.

In 2008 alone, over 70,000 pedestrians in the United States suffered injury in an accident involving motor vehicles. And over the past 15 years, 76,000 pedestrians have been killed on American roadways; that's the equivalent of twenty-five 911 terrorist attacks.

Yet US spending on security-related issues dwarfs the funding of walkable infrastructure. According to Transportation for America's recent report - Dangerous by Design - federal funding for for walking and bicycling infrastructure last year in major metropolitan areas was a meager $1.39 per person. Conversely, appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security alone amounted to about $145 per person - over 100 times the investment afforded to sidewalks and bike paths.

Sadly, almost all of those deaths and injuries are avoidable. The culprit: automobile-only street designs. Taking pedestrians and bicyclists into account when designing roadways, a concept know as "complete streets," creates a healthy and safe environment for alternative transportation.

If this country is outraged by a terrorist attack that kills 3000 people, shouldn't we be at least as concerned about the continued design and construction of unsafe streets that facilitate the needless killing and maiming of much greater numbers of US citizens?

Link here to an NPR report on pedestrian-friendly roads. And check out the Transportation for America website for tons of info on walkable and bikable streets, including an index of pedestrian safety by state and for the top 360 metro areas in the United States.

This week's newspaper column:

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Sustainability – essentially – is about connections.

Take the human body for example. Life is sustained as the heart pumps blood through a connected system of veins and arteries distributed throughout the entirety of our bodies. This system works by degree in that the more those connections are disrupted, the more quality of life is degraded. Terminate the veins in the wrist and you lose a hand; block the main arteries close to the heart and you’re dead.

Translate this metaphor to all physical and social connections and you’ve got a pretty good working understanding of sustainability.

Almost four centuries ago, English writer and clergyman John Donne articulated the concept well:

No man is an Island, entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main.

Now how many times have we heard the word “deserted” preceding the word “island”? Ever stop to wonder why some islands are deserted? At the risk of stating the self-evident, islands tend to be deserted when they have no clear connection to the mainland and are not big enough to maintain an ecosystem hospitable to human life.

So in considering sustainable design, it’s always important to think in terms of connections. Physical connections, social connections, cultural connections, environmental connections – all are important in the manifestation of a built environment that sustains and enhances a healthy human existence.

For example, when planning and developing alternative modes of transportation in a community (meaning other ways to get around besides the automobile), the success of those systems hinges on how comprehensively everything is connected with everything else. When sidewalks are intermittent and leave some areas of heavy human activity completely unserved, or when bike lanes are planned for some neighborhoods and not others – sustainably speaking – those are destined to be dead or ailing systems and will only be utilized to a small fraction of their potential.

Conversely (and fossil fuel issues aside), automobile transportation has the very sustainable quality of having roads connecting every home with every possible service and work opportunity. In fact, it’s the only fully connected system of transportation we have in America – that’s why so many people use it.

Naysayers to sustainable development are quick to say, “Why build sidewalks? Nobody wants to walk.”

But there was a time when people made the same arguments against the automobile. I bet you didn’t know that Henry Ford fielded universal cries of “Who would ever want to ride in a horseless carriage? Where would you go?” That, obviously, was before the universal connection of our roadways.

The more connections we make, the more sustainable we become and the more options we have. And in a sustainable world, each individual’s fate is connected to the viability of everybody else.

Donne famously concludes his profound treatise on sustainability saying:

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind;

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

Photo: Paul Kelly for the New York Times

Roald Gundersen is an architect I heard about a few years ago when I lived in Spring Green, WI. His home and studio - located a few miles east of the Mississippi River near La Crosse, Wisconsin - is a study in organic architecture.

Gunderson utilizes natural unmilled forest trees in the structure and detailing of his designs. He skins the trees revealing a sensuous silky-smooth finish that invites the human touch. Nature has a way of offering ready-made beauty, and Gunderson's work is a wonderful case study in expressing that natural beauty.

Beauty aside, turns out whole trees have a greater structural capacity than milled wood, according to Gundersen, about 50 percent more. And bending the trees creates an arch-like affect contributing additional strength and lateral support.

The New York Times has an informative article on Roald Gundersen's life and work along with a photo essay of his designs. Check it out.

Is recycling just a feel-good exercise in America?

Wild swings over the past few years in the demand for recycled waste material has presented a challenge for communities attempting to promote universal recycling and a rational for communities who are hostile to the very idea of recycling. I hear stories all the time about recycled material "piling up" outside of town because of a weak buyer's market, and I've read about instances where excess recycled stock is periodically hauled off to the landfill. At the same time, manufacturers and contractors use far less recycled material than they could as most stock is too difficult to locate and identify. Who has the time to look for something that may not even be available?

Here's a proposal: Why not set up a national database for recycled materials? The effectiveness of such a structure would hinge upon being comprehensive in nature. This could take the form of a government agency or an industry-funded consortium - take your pick - and it should cover all products, all grades of materials, and all locations withing the US.

A comprehensive database of available material open to all potential buyers will be a big step in closing the environmental loop and making recycling economically feasible in the US.

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This week's newspaper column:

On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I noticed something on the streets of the city that’s very peculiar in modern-day America – the complete absence of morbid obesity.

A little background: In 1791, President George Washington commissioned Pierre L’Enfant, a prominent French architect and city planner – to lay out the new capitol city on the banks of the Potomac River. L’Enfant envisioned the city as a series of parks connected by diagonal avenues on an overlay of a regular rectangular street grid. Each neighborhood would have its own green space and business district; the distance between each would be determined by practical walking distances. Obviously, the ease of traveling great distances quickly by car was not a factor. So Washington, like every city designed before the advent of the automobile, became and fortunately still remains a very walkable city.

Conversely, as new development in the United States has sprawled across the suburban countryside, so have our waistlines. How common is it to see an overly-ample “waddler” dropped off at the front door of Wal-Mart?

One might protest and argue, “But you can’t expect a 300-pound grandma to walk all the way across a hot, tree-less parking lot, can you?” That’s a good point, but this may be a chicken and egg -shaped question. Which came first – the weight gain or the inactivity?

Since moving from Washington, DC to Mississippi, I’ve picked up about 40 or pounds or so. Some of that extra weight is due to age and the classic fat-filled diet of the American South, but I suspect the majority of extra poundage is a direct result of walking less in my daily routine.

While in DC, I walked 6 blocks every morning to the Union Station metro, rode the train for about 15 minutes, and walked another 3 blocks to my workplace downtown. In the evening, I reversed the routine. At lunchtime, there were plenty of restaurants to choose from in the immediate area –all accessible to “foot-traffic,” and on a nice day, I could stroll over to one of many parks in the area to enjoy lunch in an urban green space before walking back to the office.

That routine alone amounted to about two miles of walking every day. Add to that a multiplicity of errands made possible by virtue of a walkable infrastructure, and each day included several built-in cardiovascular workouts.

In today’s world of city planning, walkability seems to be, at best, a faint afterthought and certainly not the first thing most politicians and planners think of when thinking of city infrastructure. Real estate developers claim that being forced to build sidewalks on street-facing building lots is cost prohibitive and nobody likes the idea of higher taxes to see to it that connected sidewalks are the norm.

But with obesity-related health care costs escalating through the roof, isn’t that alone a reason for rethinking our investment – or current lack thereof – in walkable infrastructure?

When in DC, the Metro is the way to go. And why not? The Washington DC Metro is safe, clean, and efficient.

Among rapid transit systems in the US, only the New York City subway system has more ridership. With a metropolitan area population of 5.3 million, Washingtonians log a million trips each week day on metro trains, and including bus service, almost 40 percent of commuters access public transportation daily.

The rub on subways has always been 1) safety (or more to the point, perceived safety), and 2) vandalism and graffiti.


Architect Harry Weese's brilliant design transcends those issues. Concrete barrel vaults create a wide-open feel with 360 degree vision - no mysterious corners where who-knows-who can be lurking. Trains flank a central platform so walls are out of spray can range of would-be public artists.


I rode the metro almost every day when I lived in DC. In fact, the metro was so convenient, I found myself having to crank my car and let it idle from time to time to keep the battery fresh.

One of my favorite places in Washington DC is this little rest stop on the grounds of the US Capitol. When I lived in Capitol Hill in the late 80's and early 90's, I spent a good bit of time in this little house. The thick masonry walls and surrounding mature tree canopy resulted in a microclimate that was 10-20 degrees cooler than the harsh Washington summer temperature outside. (Washington is very much a southern city. The traditional August congressional recess came about as a response to the repressive late summer weather.)

This little enclosure, by design, muffles the sounds of the city and exists as a great place to get away from it all in the middle of it all. The cool stone built-in seating is perfect for relaxing, resting tired feet, or spending a little time in deep meditation. And the architectural detailing is nothing short of delicious. Notice the custom-formed brickwork. It's unfortunate that craftsmanship of this quality is so rare today.

One interesting aspect of the Solar Decathlon was the diversity of solutions given the same design parameters - a testament to the infinite opportunities on the horizon for the future of sustainable living.

Here, a few of the 20 Solar Decathlon entrants. In order: Team Spain, Rice University, Penn State, University of Kentucky, and Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts).

I must lead a very sheltered life.

While in Washington, I've been staying with my good friend Dusty. (We've know each other since we were 5 years old.)

I love the sights and sounds of the city. Washington DC is a familiar urban space - I lived here for 8 years in the late 80's and early 90's - and even thought it's been raining constantly up until today, this trip has been uplifting for the mind and soul.

But one aspect of this trip has been a bit jarring: cable TV. Dusty, like most Americans, has the latest in television hardware in almost every room along with the requisite 100+ channels.

Admittedly, I don't watch much television. In fact, when the country went digital, Vickie and I opted not to get a conversion box, so technically we're TV free, although we do occasionally access certain programs on the Internet. (Our favorites are the new series Glee, the Office, and Vickie's favorite from Germany - Lindenstrasse.)

Normally the sounds around our home and my office range from quiet (which I love) to classical music to NPR news and talk programming. I hear statistics about how the "average American" watches 6 -8 hours of TV a day (which seems impossible as most people spend a good bit of time at their job or sleeping). Over the past few days, I've been getting a big dose of average America with Dusty's roommate's television-watching habits. As Dusty puts it, Joe has the TV on all the time.

Since I had access to a TV, I decided to flip around and see what I've been missing. I was surprised, shocked actually, to find such a high level of violence and negativity, not just on one channel, but on almost every channel. This morning, for instance, rapid-fire gunshots, tires screeching, screams, yelling, and glass shattering were the predominant (loud) sounds emanating from the wide-screen.

Am I the only one who finds this abrasive? It hit me right in the solar plexus in a constant barrage of energetic stabbing. I asked him if he found this kind of programming harsh. Desensitized to it all, he was bewildered by my question.

Is this what most people in America take in every day?

A friend of a friend from Germany made the comment once that he didn't understand why we Americans banned beautiful naked bodies from TV but murders and mayhem were the norm. "Shouldn't it be the opposite?" he inquired.

No wonder we're such a violent society.

I must lead a very sheltered life. Thank God.

Well, the judging is over and the results are in. Team Germany took first place. Illinois came in second, and Team California placed third.

Unfortunately, TEAM BeauSoleil fell a bit short in their effort to take home the trophy.

Unpacking the numbers in the final scoring, low scores in two of the ten categories - Net Metering and Hot Water - turned out to be fatal for ULL in the overall standings.

Otherwise, TEAM BeauSoleil posted very respectable numbers across the board including winning the Market Viability category.

Congratulations TEAM BeauSoleil for a monumental effort creating an affordable, livable, off-the-grid home. Your work has helped to created a powerful forward momentum for the future of sustainable housing.

Click on the official Solar Decathlon site for comprehensive statistics and competition photos.

Following up on their win in the last Solar Decathlon two years ago, TEAM Germany takes first place in the overall competition.

With a facade clad in photovoltaic panels plus rooftop solar panels, this prototype boasts an astounding 18Kw of energy generation at peak capacity.

I ran into their lead consulting carpenter Achmed who gave me a run-down on the winning technology. Achmed volunteered that his wardrobe was typical of German carpenters, albeit with a decidedly more formal hat.

Ducking out of the rain for coffee with friends and former Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture apprenti Ebbie and Niloufar, I came upon a new (for me) installation in the corridor between the East and West Wings of the National Gallery.

The flashing lights in the tunnel create continuous movement; no less than hypnotic.

Astounding art piece.

More Solar Decathlon later on today.

It was a very drizzly day out on the National Mall., but the competition continued. Solar Decathlon

Still, Gretchen Lacombe Vanicor, TEAM BeauSoleil project manager, keeps her enthusiasm as she presents unique features to soaked visitors.

Tomorrow, the awards ceremony and a concert on the BeauSoleil deck by none other than Beausoleil - the band, not the house.