Yale: The Green House

I had a few hours to kill in New Haven on my way to Middletown from Lancaster, so I spent some quality time at Yale University's Architecture School -- the celebrated Paul Rudolph building (recently renovated) and its less celebrated extension by Gwathmey and Siegel (Gwathmey passed away this August). In 2006-07, the National Building Museum in Washington organized a show called The Green House: New Directions in Sustainability, and it is currently on display at Yale. The Green House is a selection of built projects that address various issues of sustainability in the city, the suburbs and the country across the world. The exhibit was sponsored by Home Depot, which is evident from its "trade-show" feel, including displays of new materials and diagrammatic suggestions on how to make your house more ecological. My favorite project was P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. by the Dutch Korteknie & Stuhlmacher Architekten, Rotterdam, 2001. Seeing the actual exhibit can be replicated by reading the catalog, Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne (New York, 2005). Stang was editor of I.D. magazine and Hawthorne is architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times.