A conceptual poster imagining life in a hillside house with eyelash awnings beneath a Teflon-coated fiberglass-fabric hat. It was a creative escape from a career in urban design amid crowded streets, steel, concrete, cars, buses, and trains.
What if building designs moved beyond curb appeal, status, style, and ornament to help nature regain a foothold in daily life? What if walls and roofs served more like bones and tendons, joining the surrounding life?
Let trees become old-growth forests that host a complexity of life. Hold rainwater on the property to carry life through dry spells. Value topsoil above gold, and leave no dirt uncovered by green so streams and rivers run clear. Compost human and animal waste for safely feed gardens and fields. Create nesting spaces for swallows, swifts, and other bird life. Let larger critters occupy the roof.
Context
In the mid-1980s, notions of "sustainable" or "green" building design were still considered romantic coyote calls from the fringe. As a personal journey, the poster embodied a vision of a future with plants and animals working out life together.