A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas]

04/10/2024

https://commonedge.org/the-time-defying-nature-of-living-architectural-traditions/

Mere repetition is lifeless, a focus on design exploration creates nothing lasting, but living tradition balances both.

04/08/2024

Finally, after four long years I've converted the Original Green Blog to a new blog platform, but with updated links, larger, more readable text and much larger and more beautiful images. As of moments ago, I converted the last evergreen post. Here it is:

The Original Green Blog will migrate here, but it's going to take some time, as I started in 2008. Old posts won't be visible from here, but if you want to see the old site, just go to the oldest blog post which will be the last page I rebuild. Also, this page gets you to every blog post since the b...

08/13/2022

Maintaining the architecture that adapts with the climate and conditions of the Bahamas is so crucial!

10/18/2019

Ideas on Dorian Assistance for The Bahamas - https://mailchi.mp/mouzon/ideas-on-dorian-assistance-for-the-bahamas

I've been working with a group of colleagues on a great idea we'd like to deploy in the Hurricane Dorian recovery effort in The Bahamas. Here's the big picture of what we have in mind.

Hi , Hurricane Dorian was an unthinkable monster of a storm. Disaster recovery typically focuses only on infrastructure, buildings, and immediate human survival, ignoring equally important things such as restarting the local economy as quickly as possible and helping recover the loca...

09/10/2018

We ran out on Amazon after a flurry of orders recently, but if anyone is looking for a book, they're back in stock now. And of course if you're in The Bahamas, go to The Island Store in Nassau, and Blue Rooster and Princess Street Gallery on Harbour Island.

A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas] is a richly illustrated description of the architectural traditions of the Bahamas over the past four centuries. But this is not just another catalog of architecture in paradise. Rather, it is a workbook, or "pattern book," that examines each patte...

09/26/2017

I'm working hard on the second edition of A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas], which will include a lot of new material focused on hurricane recovery. The traditional architecture of the Caribbean in general and the Bahamas in particular is some of the best-attuned to hurricane conditions of any in the world. Much of this wisdom has been lost, beginning with the Great Decline starting in the mid-1920s. It's high time we recover it now, as so many Caribbean nations start the long and painful rebuilding process.

I'm also expanding the book beyond architecture to urbanism as well. The well-documented Bilbao Effect has many places looking for their mega-project savior, but the fact is that the Caribbean is littered with the bones of failed resorts that were supposed to be saviors, but were not. When times get hard, shareholders of a foreign corporation are far more likely to pull out of their island investment than townspeople are to pull out of their hometown, or their homeland. The best model is the Caribbean town, not the resort. And so the second edition of this book will include a lot of resources for building towns as well as the architecture within them.

06/09/2017

I'll be in the Bahamas at the end of June, photographing for the second edition of A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas]. If anyone knows of a home renovation or new home (or even a commercial building) that has benefited from the first edition of the book, please let me know!

06/02/2017

I've had three enquiries in the past hour about post-Kickstarter pledges. The actual printing cost of the second edition will be around $35,000. I was fully prepared to make up the difference myself if the Kickstarter got funded, but additional pledges will be happily accepted. If we go over $35,000, I'll use all of the additional funds to do a bigger press run so it doesn't go out of print so quickly next time. If you'd like to participate, please message me... thanks!

Steve Mouzon

06/02/2017

Thanks so much to everyone who backed our Kickstarter, which was funded just a few minutes ago! Incidentally, the last backer made an off-Kickstarter pledge to get to the $18,000 stretch goal, so everyone will get the Outdoor Room Design book as well as the award for which you pledged your support. When the book is ready, I'll email you to find out whether you'd prefer the iBooks or Kindle version. FWIW, the iBooks version is really interactive, so if you have an iPad, iPhone, or Mac, you should probably get the iBooks version.

Help print the second edition of the award-winning A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas] and get great new Deep Dive Tools.

05/30/2017

The Kickstarter to publish the second edition of A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas] has only three days to go and we're getting close to the $18,000 Stretch Goal. If we reach it, everyone who has pledged any amount gets a copy of Outdoor Room Design, which is an e-book (iBooks or Kindle) Wanda and I are now finishing. So if you've pledged support, please spread the word so you get the book, and if you haven't pledged yet, please consider doing it now.

Outdoor Room Design steps through the process of designing a tapestry of outdoor rooms meant to be inhabited, not just viewed from indoors. It’s a little-known fact that one of the best sustainability moves we can make is to entice people outdoors so they get conditioned to the local environment. When they return indoors, they just might be able to turn the A/C off and throw the windows open… and there’s no equipment so efficient as that which is off.

The book starts with general principles like south-facing outdoors, positive outdoor space, and the really important “hints from houses.” It then lays out a number of room types you might want to consider, such as the hearth garden, dinner garden, breakfast terrace, kitchen garden, couple’s garden, frontage garden, meditation garden, coffee cove, children’s maze, orchard run, motor court/sport court, and even the secret garden. Once the rooms have been laid into the landscape, the next step is to set the borders, then lay out any garden structures. Next comes the water, with a focus on useful water elements that are not solely ornamental. The passages between the rooms are next, then the finishes, fixtures, furnishings, and finally the plant material.

Again, anyone who pledges any level of support to the Kickstarter gets this book as a reward if we reach the $18,000 Stretch Goal. So thanks in advance for spreading the word… much appreciated!

Steve Mouzon

Help print the second edition of the award-winning A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas] and get great new Deep Dive Tools.

05/17/2017

We're having a great response to the Kickstarter to publish the second edition of A Living Tradition [Architecture of the Bahamas]! Because we reached the main goal last night (and because that's only a quarter of the cost of publishing the book), we’ve set three Stretch Goals for higher levels. The reward for reaching the first Stretch Goal is a copy of Outdoor Room Design, which is an e-book (iBooks or Kindle) Wanda and I are now finishing that steps through the process of designing a tapestry of outdoor rooms meant to be inhabited, not just viewed from indoors. It’s a little-known fact that one of the best sustainability moves we can make is to entice people outdoors so they get conditioned to the local environment. When they return indoors, they just might be able to turn the A/C off and throw the windows open… and there’s no equipment so efficient as that which is off.

The book starts with general principles like south-facing outdoors, positive outdoor space, and the really important “hints from houses.” It then lays out a number of room types you might want to consider, such as the hearth garden, dinner garden, breakfast terrace, kitchen garden, couple’s garden, frontage garden, meditation garden, coffee cove, children’s maze, orchard run, motor court/sport court, and even the secret garden. Once the rooms have been laid into the landscape, the next step is to set the borders, then lay out any garden structures. Next comes the water, with a focus on useful water elements that are not solely ornamental. The passages between the rooms are next, then the finishes, fixtures, furnishings, and finally the plant material.

Here’s a typical page screen shot. Anyone who pledges any level of support to the Kickstarter gets this book as a reward if we reach the first Stretch Goal. So thanks in advance for spreading the word… much appreciated! Here’s the Kickstarter link.

Steve Mouzon

02/07/2017

Part of keeping a Living Tradition alive is in the process of preserving the character or identity of a place. This becomes a challenge as many coastal areas are threatened by sea level rise.

Steve Mouzon takes a look at how to meet this challenge.
http://originalgreen.org/blog/2017/preserving-architectural.html