Amy Inouye sets up the Highland Park Book Booth. Photos via Good (left) and 90042 (right). Turning a disused pay-phone booth into a community library has been done before. But Los Angeles-based artist Amy Inouye may be the first to break the process down into easy-to-follow steps that help answer the pressing questions of aspiring street librarians: Which of the many abandoned phone booths in my neighborhood should I choose? … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Turn a Phone Booth into a Library in Four Easy Steps

image via Starbucks Last year at Greenbuild we learned about Starbucks’ new Global Store Design Strategy from Corporate Architect Tony Gale. One very attractive feature was that it was not a “one size fits all” program but would adapt the designs to different regions; Tony said “we like to do different things in different regions, to reflect what is going on in the local culture.” We previously posted about their New York store at Spring and Crosby ; I rece… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Minimalist Starbucks Store Notable For What It Leaves Out Rather Than What It Puts In

So often in the past few years, if you saw a product designed with style, humour and an environmental message, the designer was Tobias Wong. It started on TreeHugger with the Sun Jar. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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D. Tobias Wong 1974-2010

Robert Stern is Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, discussing sustainable design in Environment Yale. UTNE Reader picks up the story and illustrates it with….. a parking garage? “I don’t think sustainability is a design aesthetic, any more than having electricity in your building, or telephones, or anything else,” says Ster… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Quote of the Day: Robert Stern on When All Architecture is Green Architecture

Photos: SatoriLab . We’ve been seen plants and natural elements integrate to pretty much everything lately: chairs , fashion accessories , you name it. And although they’re probably more concept than real sustainable solutions for products, they show interesting ways to view natural materials. The objects from this article come from a new workshop by the

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Inspiration: Accessories Made With Fallen Leaves and Dry Straws

Steve Mouzon has been a fixture on TreeHugger since I first read his thoughts on the original green, on how people designed before the the Thermostat age, and how buildings kept people warm in an era before oil, or cool before air conditioning was invented. I have come to base much of my thoughts on the sustainability of heritage buildings (I am a volunteer at a heritage preservation org ) on what I have learned from Steve, much of which is summarized in the points made above in the illustration; that good buildings (old or new) are lovable, durable, flexible and frugal. I looked forward to his new book,

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The Original Green By Steve Mouzon: A Must-Read If You Care About Sustainable Design

All photos by Lloyd Alter When Viljo Revell designed Toronto City Hall back in the sixties, the podium roof was for grand entries; you could drive up the ramp and walk right into the Council Chambers. It never quite worked out that way and was pretty much ignored for years. Not any more; this weekend Mayor Miller cut the ribbon on a spectacular new green roof. The normally reserved Lisa Rochon rav… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Spectacular Green Roof Installed At Toronto City Hall

Not quite dead, but oversupplied. Photo via thegiantvermin @ flickr. Looking at the massive build up of low-density, car-dependent housing over the last 50 years, real estate developer Christopher Leinberger says in his book The Option of Urbanism that developers simply supplied too much of the wrong product in the wrong location. Yup, But, good news. Density in walkable urban areas tends to create YIMBY’s neighbors (Yes, In My Back Yard) because quality of life and property values get … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Dense, Walkable Urban Cities Create YIMBY Neighbors

Bustler Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Fallingwater is now an institute, and needed lodging for participants in its educational programs. They recently held a design competition to build six units that was won by British Columbia’s Patkau Architects. Lynda Waggoner, director of Fallingwater says: “Fallingwater grew and still grows. We feel that the winning design by Patkau Architects will allow Fallingwater to grow by actively demonstrating the principles we espouse: good design in harmony with nature.”… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Patkau Arhitects Win Competition to Build Sustainable Cottages at Fallingwater

Photo via Deutsche Welle In its new online short-film documentary series Global Ideas, Germany-based news broadcaster Deutsche Welle draws attention to smart sustainability projects all over the world: island conservation in Micronesia, reforestation in Tanzania, green electricity in Spain, energy-efficient stoves in Peru (like the one above), and more. The quick clips, most less than 10-minutes long, show off the future of green technology and its effect on local communities — and reach a wide audience. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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11 Potentially World-changing Projects Tackling Climate Change (Slideshow)