MNN - Mother Nature Network

 

Co. Design marvels at Sebastian Bergne's Lego greenhouse erected for this year's London Design Festival. The 11.5-foot tall translucent structure is composed of 100,000 plastic building blocks and inside, there's tomatoes, sunflowers, and peppers of the non-Lego variety. What's next? A Lincoln Log privy? 

 

Jetson Green digs Porch House, a lovely factory-built retreat from San Antonio-based eco-architecture firm Lake|Flato. Explains Preston over at JG: "Each Porch House is energy efficient and includes views, solar orientation, outdoor spaces, high-efficiency mechanical systems, water saving features, natural ventilation systems with operable doors and windows, low-energy materials, healthy building materials, daylighting, energy-efficient lighting, and passive design."

 

Dezeen eyes Minimumhouse, a gorgeous and energy-efficient woodland retreat near Berlin. The two-story holiday home was designed by Scheidt Kasprusch Architekten. 

 

Re-Nest rounds up "10 Furniture Makers Keeping Woodworking Alive." Beautiful — albeit spendy — stuff. 

 

USATODAY reports that San Francisco has approved an ordinance that will require new buildings in certain parts of the city to adhere to "bird-safe" building standards that will help reduce the number of fatal avian collisions. Not everyone is thrilled about the decision. Margie O' Driscoll, executive director of the American Institute of Architects' San Francisco chapter supports bird protection but doesn't think the ordinance "is the best way to go about it," pointing out that partially opaque glass can reduce energy efficiency and double construction costs.

The New York Times is on location at the Lakevill, Conn. prefab home of interior designers Robert Bristow and Pilar Proffitt. Says Proffitt of her family's factory-built digs: "The modular house has advantages: 120 workers will build your house in five days in a factory,” and it arrives “at its appointed hour, or there will be penalties.” 

 

The Wall Street Journal works on its indie cred with a visit the sylvan Portland, Ore. (but of course!) residence of bespectacled alt-rocker/children's book author Colin Meloy. Meloy's wife, illustrator Carson Ellis, refers to their densely wooded Forest Park neighborhood "as survivalist's paradise—a place where they could live on their own vegetables and fruit, drink water from the creeks and hunt meat in a post-apocalyptic scenario."

 

The Los Angeles Times resurrects Susan Carpenter's "Can I recycle ..." column. This regular feature that tackles "the surprisingly complicated world of household recycling" returns with a look at "remnants of our tech past": VHS tapes.