the story of the smart home
Michelle Kaufmann from After Black Hammer on Vimeo.
My talented and dear friend Garret Curtis made this beautiful video of the story behind the Smart Home in Chicago. I love his eye and gift for story telling. Lord knows I am no easy subject to deal with.
More of Garret’s work is at After Black Hammer and [...]
smart home tour with aia
Thanks to Joan Pomaranc and the AIA Chicago for a great time and interesting discussions during our recent tour of the Smart Home at the Museum of Science + Industry. It is a treat to spend time with talented folks doing great work in the world.
The home design depicted in this photo was designed [...]
yummy honey recipes
My dear friend Jerry James Stone has come up with some amazing tasty treats using honey from the Smart Home. They are perfect for deliciousness and goes perfect with a California organic wine (Jerry shares his recommended pairings with each recipe).
Grilled Fruit Bruchetta
Grilled Portabella Melt
Thank you for sharing, Jerry and Jaymi!
Talking Smart Home
It is so good to be back home at the Smart Home: Green +Wired. It has been remodeled and packed full of very cool eco-ideas. In fact, I think this is the very best year yet. The gardens designed by Bernie Jabobs and the University of Illinois are coming alive and so is the home.
I [...]
welcome home
The “Greenest Home in Chicago” is back with new gadgets and inventive ways to live green! The Smart Home (which I designed) is a fully functioning, eco-friendly home at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, is a must-see exhibit for anyone who wants their home, and life, to be smarter, more efficient and [...]
smart dinner
Last week I had the great pleasure of spending the evening in the Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with a group of people who immediately felt like family. The location and atmosphere couldn’t have been more lovely (of course I have a bias for the home design, but Director [...]
green it yourself: LED twig chandelier
If you have any trees in your garden, chances are there is the occasional pruning, trimming and clean up. Typically the debris then goes to landscape waste or compost. However, you might consider giving it another life, allowing those twigs to provide beauty and function in something like this LED twig chandelier. The ones shown [...]
cool and clean
This fan by Dyson is pretty interesting. It draws air in and amplifies it 15 times, producing an uninterrupted stream of smooth air. Since there are no blades, it means it is safe and easy to clean. Plus the design is aesthetically clean and simple. The technology is used in a range of fan [...]
sky planting
Defy gravity and reduce watering by 80% through the use of these unique upside-down planters by Boskke. These plants in the Smart Home: Green + Wired at the Museum of Science and Industry show that you can save space (maximize your floorspace), conserve water (potted plants commonly lose water through evaporation and drainage which these [...]
education in a box
One of my very favorite green products on the market is the Earthbox. The Earthbox doubles the yield of a conventional garden, with less water, less fertilizer, virtually no effort. They are great for adding to your courtyard, roof deck, balcony or backyard. Earthbox is also wonderful for countries short on water, healthy food [...]
power without wires
One of my favorite new items incorporated into this year’s Smart Home: Green + Wired at the Museum of Science and Industry is the use of eCoupled’s intelligent wireless power. Through the use of near-field inductive coupling with an advaced intelligent control system, the countertop provides power safely, efficiently, and without wires. This is [...]
Smart Home living room: Get the look
Apartment Therapy’s Marketplace recently wrote a piece on the Smart Home living room and outlines where you can find the interior pieces. They write:
Despite the explosion of green products on the market, it’s still hard sometimes to find things that look good and meet high sustainable design standards.
Architect Michelle Kaufmann’s Smart Home has been a [...]
smart home / garage mahal
When we think about designing for future flexibility, garages are a great place for innovation. Hopefully in the future we will not require parking for 2 cars, and then we can make the garage into usable living space. This is important to plan for right from the start. In the Smart Home we designed for [...]
earth day at the smart home
The Boys and Girls Club of Chicago joined the Museum of Science and Industry to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day at the Smart Home / Smart Park yesterday (we had designed the Smart Home). Thirty students (ages 9 through 11) from Holy Angels School toured the home, met with the GE “Lighting [...]
bee smart
There is something oddly comforting with the fact that there are increasing amounts of urban dwellers who are beekeepers. Not only does the beekeeping mean that you can have your honey and beeswax for your family, gifts to friends, or even to sell, but it also can help to pollinate your garden. Honey bees can [...]
(new) Smart Home opens
I am so excited that we get to be a part of the “Smart Home: Green and Wired” exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The exhibit is a fully functioning three story home (that we designed a few years ago) and showcases the best in sustainable living solutions. Here you can [...]
Smart Home – How green building can save the housing industry
I just read this great article by John Wasik (author of The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream and The Audacity of Help) on the ABC 7 website. John writes:
“Green is gold. Why didn’t homebuilders get this idea? They could be building new homes again, employing millions, making inner cities and suburbs habitable and [...]
Smart Home – Recycled Beauty
One of the eco-principles we use when designing homes is using eco-materials – materials that are renewable or recyclable. A good example of this is to use glass tiles made of recycled glass. One of my favorite examples of beautiful recycled tile is Maienza-Wilson’s gorgeous house in Montecito (image above and below by Jim Bartsch, [...]
construction of the Smart Home may 2008
may 1, 2008
Even though it sits right next to one of the largest lakes in the United States, the Smart Home exhibit (opening at the Museum of Science and Industry next week!) contains as many water conserving solutions. Water conservation is crucial in this day and age as water is quickly becoming the next oil; [...]
construction of the Smart Home april 2008
april 9, 2008
Photo by J Jeffery Johnson
These photos of the Smart Home, taken just this morning at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, show a few very exciting things going on there right now. Not only does it look a bit warmer than it did a few weeks ago during the setting, [...]
construction of the Smart Home march 2008
march 3, 2008
Mark you calendars: we’re setting the Smart Home this week on Wednesday and Thursday! The foundation is complete and the modules are being shipped out. Despite nearly freezing temperatures in Chicago, our team is going ahead with the setting of those modules onto that foundation at the Museum of Science and [...]
construction of the Smart Home february, 2008
february 2, 2008
Photo by All American
Closure is a good thing, especially when we’re talking about the building you live in, and especially when that building is in a place like Chicago with its hot, hot summers and cold, cold winters. This week, closure is just what the Smart Home is getting. The All [...]
construction of Smart Home – January 2008
January 7, 2008
Tonight I am actually posting this blog entry to you from beautiful Chicago. I am here at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) for this super exciting announcement: we have been working very hard for the past few months to get to this point and are now finally ready and delighted [...]
