This month, in conjunction with Colorado Architecture Month, we want to celebrate all things architecture. During the month of April, the American Institute of Architects Colorado (AIA Colorado) holds several events, free and open to the public, where you can learn more about sustainable design and the great architects and designers that have helped shape a movement, like John Lautner and Charles and Ray Eames.

To learn about the different events being held statewide visit www.aiacolorado.org.

You’ll be able to join the conversation for Colorado Architecture Month on Twitter by using the hashtag: #CoArchMo.

We’d love to hear which architects, whether local or not, have influenced you.

The architect who coined the phrase “Less is more” and “God is in the details” is being honored today with a Google Doodle. Mies, along with other renowned Post World War I architects, helped usher in the modern era of architecture.  His minimalism design style is reflected in his work such as S.R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was head of the architecture school,  the Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan and the Farnsworth House, in Plano, Illinois.

Mies migrated to the United States after Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s. Here he had a remarkable career earning the AIA Gold Medal (the American Association of Architects’ highest honor) in 1960 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (awarded by President Lyndon Johnson). Happy 126th Birthday Mies van der Rohe.

Photo via Google.

Last Friday, September 23rd, started the 2011 Solar Decathlon with 20 teams competing for the best solar-powered house around. Each collegiate team has been asked to “design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive.” These 20 innovative homes will be on display at National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C until October 2nd.

Leading the way are University of Maryland and Purdue University.  According to U.S. Department of Energy, who has been spearheading this competition since 2002, the winner will be the team “that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.”

Take a look at the scene on the National Mall this week.

Aerial view of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Aerial view of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

To learn more about the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon visit www.solardecathlon.gov.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s last remaining hotel recently reopened in Mason City, Iowa. The Park Inn, completed in 1910, was built as a three-story wood-and-brick structure that adjoined another of his designs, the City National Bank. ARCHITECT writes that The Park Inn  “would serve as the bridge between his Prairie School period and his Midway Gardens.”

The restoration, which took 12 years , was the brainchild of a nonprofit group called Wright on the Park. They commissioned Bergland + Cram to oversee the restoration in 1999 for an estimated $18 million. ARCHITECT reports that “the lobby, ladies parlor, and balcony all appear as they did a century ago.”

Courtesy of The New York Times

You can witness the renovation and the story behind The Park Inn in the 2008 documentary, “The Last Wright.”

Experience a night in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Historic Park Inn starting at just $100 a night. For more information call (641) 422-0015 or visit wrightonthepark.org.

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and like many we were riveted to the television watching all the live coverage at the National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero. The 9/11 memorial plaza opened yesterday morning at 10 a.m., almost the exact minute ten years earlier when the first tower fell. In the place in which the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood are two reflecting pools with the names of 2,977 people killed in the terrorist attacks in New York, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, as well as the six who died in the bombing of the trade center in 1993. There are also over 400 oak trees planted to provide a canopy over the Memorial.

Courtesy of the National September 11th Memorial

Courtesy of National September 11th Memorial

Courtesy of the National September 11th Memorial

According to the 9/11 Memorial, “The Memorial’s twin reflecting pools are each nearly an acre in size and feature the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within the footprints where the Twin Towers once stood. Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker created the Memorial design selected from a global design competition that included more than 5,200 entries from 63 nations.”

With projects like FLEDERHAUS in Vienna, Austria it is easy to see how architecture can impact our local parks and recreation. This eco-friendly, five-story structure designed by Heri & Salli, is the perfect place to lounge after a busy day seeing the sites in Vienna. With over a dozen hammocks available for public use this “haus” has given new meaning to laying around.

Courtesy of ArchDaily. Photography by Mischa Erben

Courtesy of ArchDaily. Photography by Mischa Erben

Courtesy of ArchDaily. Photography by Mischa Erben

Courtesy of ArchDaily. Photography by Mischa Erben

Courtesy of ArchDaily. Photography by Mischa Erben

If you happen to find yourself in Vienna, this vertical public space is open daily until October from 10am till 7pm.

What do you think about a structure like this here in Colorado? Do you think our residents would find this a suitable use of public space?

Water conservation has become an important part of sustainable living.

A growing concern for sustainable construction is water conservation. For many years, reducing power consumption has been a major focus of sustainable living, and while it is important, our dwindling water supply has slowly made green building exceedingly blue.

New construction specifications should incorporate water efficiency and conservation to reduce the impact on our water tables. The easiest way to conserve water usage is to install ultra-low flow fixtures wherever possible; your water consumption will decrease while leaving your quality of life virtually unchanged.

Proper landscaping makes a dramatic impact on water efficiency as well. Native plants reduce the need for regular watering since they have already adapted to the climate’s average rainfall. Scheduling a controlled irrigation early in the morning or after dusk will also reduce the amount of water wasted by evaporation.

To construct your own sustainable designed home in the Colorado Mountain region, contact Trilogy Partners today.

The world’s greenest, most energy efficient commercial building? It’s a bold claim, but as the headquarters for the Cascadia Green Building Council–a key force behind the Living Building Challenge, widely considered to be the highest standard in green building–we’d expect nothing less of the new Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design and Construction (CCSDC).

Slated for the intersection of Seattleʼs Central Area and Capitol Hill neighborhoods, this six-story, 50,000-square-foot building is meant to serve as a “living laboratory” for cutting-edge sustainable building technologies and practices.  Information on building’s systems and operations will be continuously monitored, analyzed and made available to the public.

image via The Bullit Foundation

The building is also intended to be a boon for local businesses supplying sustainable building materials, and to strengthen Seattleʼs leadership in the green building movement as a whole.

The CCSDC is meant to serve as a center for learning and a model for green development while providing community and economic development in the short and long term. Its builders would like to see it lower barriers for future high performance green projects by transforming the marketplace, and to foster new, hands-on partnerships to advance shared goals in green building for all those involved.

More information on the project and its sponsoring agent, The Bullit Foundation, is available online.

Source: earthtechling.com

Our neighbors in Denver have something to celebrate – the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named Denver the “greenest” city in the U.S. According to Editor at Large, almost 30 projects in Denver have achieved LEED green building certification since last year, and two of those projects attained the highest LEED rating, LEED Platinum.

Deb Kleinman, the executive director of the Colorado Chapter of the USGBC said “Colorado’s culture of sustainability and conservation are a part of its DNA; individual cities… clearly understand the importance of green building as a part of that culture.”

Denver was recently named the "greenest" city in the U.S. by the USGBC.

There are many noteworthy LEED certified buildings in the Denver area, including the Wells Fargo Center, the Colorado Convention Center, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Building. Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED USGBC, said “The LEED green building program sets the benchmark for what is possible with high-performing buildings. Denver has been a pioneer in the green building efforts, setting examples and showcasing new innovation with its many LEED projects.”

We here at Trilogy Partners think it’s great that our neighbors in Denver are doing their part to create green and sustainable structures. Since Denver has been named the “greenest” city in America, we think Colorado could have the potential to become the “greenest state” in the country!

Photo credit: Denver-travel-services.com.

Every once and a while I think it’s probably a good idea to take a step back and think about why we’re doing what we’re doing. For instance, I’m currently in LA at the Design Bloggers Conference. I’m meeting people who work in the design world, like myself, who are also spending a lot of time these days writing, or blogging, about what they are doing and why they are doing it. Which begs the question: why am I writing this little piece right now? What’s this blog all about? It’s a question I think I know the answer to.  We at Trilogy Partners are different than most other firms in our industry when it comes to design and build because we are fully integrated and truly a “one stop shop.” We see it from all angles. We are designers and ditchdiggers. We are builders, planners, and accountants. We are carpenters and tradesmen and we are passionate about how things look and feel. We are storytellers. In effect, we wear a whole lot of hats around here for one reason. So that we can serve our clients fully and completely. And we want people to know that. But there’s more to it than just what we do.

We’ve been doing this for quite a while now. In the course of each project we learn a whole lot, and I want to take the time now to pass along some of what we’ve learned. The good lessons, the hard lessons. Each project is a journey and is its own story. Building a home is a rather long process that grows from concept to creation to a lasting realization of a vision and a dream. These journeys oftentimes take years, and during the course of these years things happen that are worthy of words and remembrance. Each project brings with it a separate wisdom. So I’m here to pass along the stories, and the knowledge of what it takes to design and build homes because, honestly, I couldn’t find anyone else who was. This is the only place where you can get a complete picture of both sides of the home design and build process that I’ve yet to find.

I can tell you this: designing, building, it’s hard work and harder still to do really well. But it’s a lot of fun. And it’s really rewarding to drive by a spot where once nothing stood and see, now, a wonderful home alight and alive with the people that live within its walls. That’s also what I want to write about. The joy and the how of what we do. And the gratitude we feel for being allowed to do what we truly love. With the hope that some out there will read our words and benefit from what we’ve learned. And be inspired to move forward, with confidence, in pursuit of their dreams.

Enjoy!