| A special issue of Architecture entitled, “Biophilic School Design for Health and Wellbeing”, Terrapin’s Bill Browning teamed up with Jim Determan of Craig Gaulden Davis Architecture to explore the results from the yearlong study of biophilic measures in a sixth grade mathematics classroom in Baltimore. Those results influenced the design of the new Bethel-Hanberry elementary […] — Read More
| Every once in a great while, a completed project is even better than the architectural renderings. When that happens, it is an absolute thrill. This delight and joy is what we experienced when walking through the newly rebuilt terminal core of Portland Oregon’s PDX International Airport. PDX has for many years been the top-rated airport […] — Read More
| British Columbia (BC), Canada’s westernmost province, has a centuries-old tradition of wood construction by the First Nations of the region. Their round houses and planked long houses made great use of the giant western red cedar and the fine-grained yellow cedar. For BC’s largest city, Vancouver, timber exports were the basis of its original economy. […] — Read More
| The administration at the University of California Santa Barbara finally realized that the emperor had no clothes and cancelled the mostly windowless Munger Hall,1 but the fight for natural light and air continues. The monstrous dorm would have sentenced over 4,000 students to bedrooms with no windows, creating a potentially disastrous living experience. In location near […] — Read More
| Agrihoods, neighborhoods that incorporate food production into their design, have been getting more attention in the residential development world. In many cases, these projects are conventional sprawl with a tiny community garden or orchard. Whereas, in their truest form, agrihoods weave food production into the design and experiential fabric of their communities in much more […] — Read More
| A man to whom Terrapin owes much of our passion and focus passed away last month. Edward O. Wilson made multiple contributions to science and society. His focus on ants and their behaviors led to a sometimes controversial exploration of innate vs learned behavior in other species—sociobiology, a field in which he was a pioneer. […] — Read More
| Over the years I have noticed that while good ideas come and go, truly bad ideas take on a life of their own. Some ideas even move into the realm of what Amory Lovins calls ‘spherically stupid’—stupid from any direction you look. Billionaire Charlie Munger is giving the University of California Santa Barbara $200 million […] — Read More
| This feature is a follow up to Bill’s previous post on The Journey of Sustainability. 1 September 2021 Thirty years ago today, Amory and Hunter Lovins, over the objections of some of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s board of directors, allowed a 29-year-old to launch a new program to work with real estate developers to make […] — Read More
| The green building movement and arguably the larger discussion about sustainability have progressed in scope and understanding over the last three decades. Terrapin staff have been at the heart of this journey. In retrospect, this progression can be understood as three distinct levels of sustainability, each with their own focus, and with direct and indirect benefits […] — Read More
| Disaster resilience has focused primarily on the physical characteristics and resource provisions of a home. How might we incorporate psychological resilience into design? — Read More
| A “New Design Ideas” article on biophilic design and the future of architectural education. — Read More
| Our very own Dakota Walker discusses a common thread behind Terrapin’s diverse work in sustainability — Read More
| Here are some of our takeaways from an action-packed week at Greenbuild — Read More
| In this feature, Bill Browning provides his take on the growing adoption of biophilic design and ways that practitioners can expand their use of this design language. — Read More
| Looking for a summer book recommendation? This year our Summer Reading list features titles ranging from authors we know well to ones we’re meeting for the first time. — Read More
| The possible applications and potential environmental implications of blockchain technology are significant. — Read More
| Environmental strategist Bill Browning shares strategies and insights on the benefits on incorporating biophilia into built environments. — Read More
| We may not have solved all of sleep’s mysteries, but we are starting to understand the role environmental design plays in promoting sleep and health. — Read More
| How might our collective experience of the built environment impact the perception of “success” in architecture? — Read More
| What qualifies as “sustainable forestry” may depend on your point of view, but fundamentally a tree stand is not a forest. — Read More
