The Yves Béhar-Designed ADU and the Complicated Altruism of the “Fully-Customizable Prefab”

2018-11-13T12:00:00-05:00

My invitation to interview industrial designer Yves Béhar about his first step into architecture, an immaculately designed Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), brought me to a design festival of unprecedented scale and wealth.

Held in the historic core of Downtown Los Angeles - a neighborhood physically and economically between the Financial District and Skid Row - Summit LA18 was a three day festival that hosted, according to its promotional material, “a wide array of talks, performances, wellness classes, art installations, gourmet food, and experiences designed to foster relationships and inspire new perspectives.”

A cursory glance at the titles of highlighted events, including “Al Gore and Jaden Smith on New Hope for Solving the Climate Crisis” and “Manufactured Organs and The Radical Quest to Cure Aging” was my first clue of what relationships might be fostered and what new perspectives might be prioritized at this event; my second clue was the intensive application for entry (follo...

HGTV Theory: Tiny House Hunters, Debt Resistors

2017-02-08T12:05:00-05:00

On the episode “Family of Six Goes Tiny” of HGTV’s Tiny House Hunters, Cindy, Dan, and their four daughters, ranging in age from 14 to two, downsize from their 2,500 square foot house in Santa Clarita to a 600 square foot home in Corning, New York—100 square feet per person. The real estate agent thinks they’re insane. What motivates such an extreme move? Debt aversion, in part.

Archinect - Features

The Yves Béhar-Designed ADU and the Complicated Altruism of the “Fully-Customizable Prefab”

HGTV Theory: Tiny House Hunters, Debt Resistors