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Friday, 19 October 2007
Inspiring home design books
I mentioned the book, A Pattern Language, in a previous
article. This book offers a process for people to go through (that
would
take days to do completely!) in order to hone in on just what they
would like, if they were to design their own home. It mixes psychology
with architecture in a way that makes it an interesting read, even
if you aren't building a house. I was lucky that the library got
this book in for me just at the time that they were taking a lot
of time off during the winter, so we had the book around for several
extra weeks.
Every once in a while, Eric and I would sit down and go through
a few chapters together, taking notes on our responses. It was
nearly as good as a `Marriage Encounter’ program. We had no real
conflicts to speak of, however it took us a long time to process
each of the chapters and to listen to each other's responses. We
never completed the book. I came away, though, with more of a sense
of what I wanted our new home to `feel’ like than I had when we
were simply trying out optional floor plans together.
Our next inspirational books were the Not-So-Big House books by
Sarah Susanka. They are gorgeous books that showcase a variety
of American homes that have a `build better, not bigger' approach.
Although largely un-credited, I found many of the Pattern Language
principles clearly articulated and demonstrated in these books.
Susanka talked a lot about light, space and organization _ key
pieces from A Pattern Language. She also showed how attention to
artistry in building is important. Many of her examples offered
what I love most about older homes (un-painted wood, craftsmanship,
comfortable proportions) yet all of the homes were new ones.
Despite Susanka's intention for people to build smaller, she spent
surprisingly very little time on the energy-efficiency aspects
of such a choice. This surprised me, since Susanka lives and designs
homes in Minnesota _ one of the coldest climates in the USA. As
well, although she described her homes as small, most of them were
what I would describe as `on the large size' (i.e. more than 2500
square feet). They had lots of windows (great for light, but very
expensive if you install the most energy-efficient ones) and lots
of interior walls (more expensive to build and heat than open-concept
plans). Her clients were able to pay well for the sumptuous rooms
that were designed.
It amazes me that people are still building bigger homes. And that
they are not paying attention to the most cost-efficient source
of energy available _ the sun. Susanka never mentioned heating
choices in her books, and certainly did not discuss house siting
and windows except in terms of the aesthetics of light. Additionally,
she rarely talked about how to choose building materials that are
either natural, recycled or processed with very little energy use.
For me, the not-so-big-house concept is missing a key component,
if it does not include these.
At a used bookstore, I discovered The Natural House Book - Creating
a Healthy, Harmonious, and Ecologically-Sound Home Environment.
I can't imagine why anyone would trade in this book! Published
in 1989, it was a book ahead of its time. As well as providing
examples of interesting homes from around the world, it also focused
on how to avoid building a `sick building’, through materials and
design choices. These days, with our efforts to increase airtightness
and insulation in our homes, and with our use of glues and varnishes
in our building materials, we need to be careful that we have a
good air exchange system, otherwise we will become sick. This book
was a good heads-up for us as we began to think about more of the
details of our home plan choices.
Next time: Visiting some solar homes in our region
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