Prairie Style and sustainability concepts.

The Prairie Style of architecture, which was a part of the Art and Crafts movement, introduced certain aspects of sustainable housing to contemporary architecture through a connection to the environment. Examples being the landscape around the house and the building materials used: “…ideas such as the relevance of a building to nature and the landscape, the visual expression of natural materials (rather than concealing them behind paint and wallpaper), or the idea of abandoning small, boxy rooms in favor of a more open, integrated interior space…” (H. Allen Brooks)
Many of these houses were built with permanence in mind, using solid construction, craftsmanship, natural materials. Roofs are low-pitched, with wide eaves, Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the native prairie landscape. Architects were using solar heating and power- saving alternatives. Many Prairie style homes have floor to ceiling windows on the south side of the house with large overhangs, calculated to produce shade in the summer and a maximum of sunlight in the winter. Not to say these houses would receive LEED platinum ratings in 2007 but it is interesting to see where the ideas came from. If one dug deeper we would determine from where in history their own ideas were sourced.

To read more about passive solar see http://www.canren.gc.ca/tech_appl/index.asp?CaId=5&PgId=303
To read more about sustainable landscaping see http://www.greengardeners.ca ,a Toronto, Canada based ecological land care organization in the business of helping homeowners create more ecologically sound gardens and landscapes.

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