Shedding Light on the Future
Sign of the changing times! © adroyt original
Why have just one serving when you can have as many as you’d like? Here’s another scoop of the US Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon, which is running from Sept. 23rd through Oct. 2nd in Washington, DC. Adroyt had the pleasure of joining Miele USA and their publicist White Good & Company on a press junket (see our pre-event post on adroyt here), along with several other guests in the design and journalism fields, on a tour of their sponsored entry: the University of Maryland’s WaterShed house.
Skyler Stevenson knows his way around a Miele kitchen! © adroyt original
The house is a built metaphor for the path of a water droplet as it cycles from the clouds to earth, incorporated into a sustainably designed residence. The U of M team drew their inspiration from their native Chesapeake Bay aquatic ecostystem, the name of the structure an overt tribute to the integration of human and natural systems. A blend of simplicity, modernity, and vernacular tradition, the house is elegant proof that there are ways to live with the earth and not just upon it.
The sleek Miele induction cooktop. © adroyt original
Miele’s long-standing commitment to conservation, efficiency, and innovation was a perfect partner to the project’s goals: they contributed several of their top-of-the-line appliances to the sleekly designed living space, integrated seamlessly into the clean modern aesthetic. The reward of forethought and conscious evaluation was amply evident as we absorbed the results of the nearly two-year-long design and construction process. Nineteen other teams had their unique concepts on display on the park lawn, across from the Jefferson Memorial; their presence was a resounding affirmation that American ideals and leadership were still very much in evidence.
The Lincoln Memorial © adroyt original
We’d like to offer our thanks to our hosts, Miele, White Good, the DOE, and the U of M team for a very enlightening (and encouraging) day in the nation’s capital, beside the Potomac. Lunch afterward at Founding Farmers (gotta love that name) was the icing on the cake, and our fasttrack to and from D.C had us hurtling back to the future in just over twelve hours!
