Approximately 1 in 4 Americans live with disabilities, with the South having the highest percentage. Every year, 5% of Americans will live with a temporary disability for 6 months or less. We all live and move around on a spectrum of ability, whether or not we experience serious injury or disease, beginning in infancy and […]
Category: architecture
The most important thing for modern home design
Did you know that according to a study sponsored by the EPA, modern Americans spend 93% of their day indoors? If we spend that much time indoors, we need to make it as pleasant and healthy as possible. Greyhaven Designs begins each project with an appropriate, site-specific solar orientation with a tasteful abundance of window […]
Light when the power goes out
Observations Along with many in the Fayette and Shelby County areas today, we lost power. I took the opportunity to evaluate the amount of light we are getting at Greyhaven when it’s overcast and there’s no other source of light available. East facing office window: 10 lux. South facing living room window: lower, 120 lux; […]
A plea for removing barriers from home design
Homes are Technology Merriam-Webster defines technology as “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area”. Our homes are great examples of technology: they are structures that shelter us from the elements and give us space to perform the tasks of living. Technology is good to the extent that it enables us to do what we […]
#251: Warm Colors
Pattern The greens and greys of hospitals and office corridors are depressing and cold. Natural wood, sunlight, bright colors are warm. In some way, the warmth of the colors in a room makes a great deal of difference. … Choose surface colors which, together with the natural light, reflected light, and artificial lights, create a […]
#252: Pools of Light
Pattern Uniform illumination — the sweetheart of the lighting engineers — serves no useful purpose whatsoever. In fact, it destroys the social nature of space, and makes people feel disoriented and unbounded. … Place the lights low, and apart, to form individual pools of light which encompass chairs and tables like bubbles to reinforce the […]
#253: Things from Your Life
(This is the start of a series in which I will be going through Christopher Alexander’s “Pattern Language” book in reverse order, from the smallest patterns toward the larger, in the hopes of educating myself to recognize and implement the patterns. I don’t expect to understand or agree with all of the patterns — indeed, […]