In their international survey of contemporary house design, Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne herald the emergence of a new architecture: one that is as aesthetically compelling as it is environmentally friendly. Leaving behind the clunky, mud-caked constructions of the 1960s and 1970s, the more than twenty-five remarkable residences featured in The Green House not only tread lightly on the land but also provide exalted spaces in which to live. Located around the globe: from the arid deserts of Tucson, Arizona to the tropical beaches of New South Wales, to the pine-covered mountains of Ebnet-Kappel, Switzerland, to the urban canyons of New York City, these outstanding examples of sustainable design represent nuanced responses to the most diverse and challenging ecological conditions.

Designs by such preeminent architects as Rick Joy, Shigeru Ban, Steven Holl, Lake/Flato, Kengo Kuma, Pugh + Scarpa, and Werner Sobek, among many others, are accompanied by clear explanations of the energy-efficient, low-impact systems that allow them to work hand-in-hand with their natural surroundings. The Green House brings to light the variety of ways architects have achieved sustainability, whether by incorporating common-sense strategies of solar orientation, natural ventilation, and recycling of household water or by making use of cutting-edge materials and building technologies such as geothermal heat pumps and sophisticated smog filtration systems; all without compromising their aesthetic goals.

The Green House is an indispensable guide for anyone interested in harnessing the environmental, economic, and physiological benefits of living green. It is required reading for all architets and design-conscious consumers planning the construction of their own home.

This book by Stang (executive editor, Cookie magazine) and Hawthorne (architecture critic, Los Angeles Times) is a companion volume to the exhibition of the same name organized by the National Building Museum. It documents the incorporation of environmental sustainability principals into architecturally innovative homes around the world and situated in diverse ecosystems. Twenty-nine different projects are profiled with text and numerous color photographs.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This book by Stang (executive editor, Cookie magazine) and Hawthorne (architecture critic, Los Angeles Times) is a companion volume to the exhibition of the same name organized by the National Building Museum. It documents the incorporation of environmental sustainability principals into architecturally innovative homes around the world and situated in diverse ecosystems. Twenty-nine different projects are profiled with text and numerous color photographs. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From the arid deserts of Tucson, Arizona to the icy forests of Poori, Finland to the tropical beaches of New South Wales, Australia to the urban jungle of downtown Manhattan, critics Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne have traveled to the farthest reaches of the globe to find all that is new in the design of sustainable, or green, homes. The result: more than thirty-five residences in fifteen countries — and nearly every conceivable natural environment — designed by a combination of star architects and heretofore unknown practitioners.

Six different climactic zones are presented in The Green House — waterfront, forest and mountain, tropical, desert, suburban, and urban; there is also a section on mobile dwellings. Each chapter features a series of homes that show the diversity and possibility of sustainable design. Projects are presented with large color images, plans, drawings, and an accompanying text that describes their green features and explains how they work with and in the environment.

Architects included: Santiago Calatrava, Shigeru Ban, Miller/Hull, Rick Joy, Lake Flato, Kengo Kuma, Glenn Murcutt, Pugh & Scarpa, Werner Sobek, and many others.

The Green House is not only a beautiful object in its own right, but is sure to be an indispensable reference for anyone building or interested in sustainable design — and if you ask us, that should be everyone.

From the arid deserts of Tucson, Arizona to the icy forests of Poori, Finland to the tropical beaches of New South Wales, Australia to the urban jungle of downtown Manhattan, critics Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne have traveled to the farthest reac