Hampton Avery Architects

No More Running In Place

On left, conventional parking lot, on right, the same lot with permeable paving. See the difference?

Could it be that in twenty years time we will find ourselves driving our solar charged electric cars to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen, with a green roof that grows it’s own vegetables and cooks them in a solar oven, and sits in a parking lot paved with permeable concrete, in front of a day lighted & geothermally heated Target. Lord help us if that is the case.

It seems that we are working very hard to make new ’sustainable’ ideas and technologies fit into existing ways of doing things. We seem to be working hard to stay where we are. While I can understand why this is happening, it is not good. Where we are is not good.

In honor, or at least coincident with, the 100th anniversary of the Plan of Chicago, lets think about how our cities and buildings can be ‘green’ and make our lives better. What opportunities are there for a better quality of life in doing the right thing?  How do we create a world where we gain more than we give up?